Wild Fire
by YoungestCullen8
Summary: Alternate World: F4 teaches at Shinhwa University while holding various jobs. They are the same successful and popular men as they have always been, but they have added six new members to their ranks. Now their new job is to protect a friend of Yi Jeong, but she's not the saving type. What happens when the world collapses around them? OC R&R
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So I had another story pop up. I don't know if you know the group BOYFRIEND or not, but I'm totally in love with two of them. Since I can't use the actual guys because we can't use real people, I made them characters in the Boys Over Flower universe like I do with all my favorite pop stars. So this is a supernatural story with F4.

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"Why is he always late?"

"Because is Goo Jun Pyo. He can do what he wishes."

Kwan Jeongmin made an annoyed noise and spun he straw around his glass once more. They were always waiting on Goo Jun Pyo. The leader of F4 and heir to Shinhwa Group thought the world revolved around him. He was late to everything he did, especially these meetings. He was very stuck up.

But the three men who were his best friends were the exact opposite. They were gentle and caring. They only lost their tempers when it actually mattered, unlike their friend and leader.

Jeongmin looked at Donghyun. The official leader of the younger group had his nose stuck in a book. He pushed his Harry Potter glasses up on his nose seconds before he ruffled his light, cotton candy pink hair. He was always reading something that none of the others would read.

There were six of them including Jeongmin and Donghyun. There was Cha Hyunseong, twins Hwang Youngmin and Kwangmin, and Lee Minwoo. They were the six underclass men that F4 had taken under their wings. They were all considered royalty now since they were hanging out with the four guys who taught in and ruled the school.

"Don't put much stock into it," Hyunseong said. He was the second oldest in the group an usually always backed up Donghyun. "I heard they were talking to the new teachers."

"Wasn't there a new English teacher this year?" Minwoo asked.

"There's two new ones and a new Spanish teacher," Donghyun supplied.

Jeongmin groaned at the thought of taking English again. He'd had it seven years in a row. Eight of you counted this year. He was already fluent in the language so why did he have to take another year of it?

The door opened and in spilled F4. The four men looked normal in their khakis and button up shirts but that was just a facade. They were the ones who picked the teachers and decided who stayed and who left in the student body. Luckily they didn't haze people anymore but it would escalate to that if they wished.

"You're late," Minwoo joked.

"We always run late thanks to him," Song Woo Bin joked as he pointed at Jun Pyo.

The heir to a construction company and a business ethics teacher, Woo Bin was considered rich and smart. He had made a deal with his dad that if he could work as a teacher until his father retired he would gladly take over the company. His father had agreed and they had settled amicably. Anyone who saw Woo Bin could tell he was the oldest member of F4.

"I'm rarely late," Jun Pyo complained.

He was the third oldest of F4 and the most well endowed. He had money and looks and was heir to the school and his family's company. Whatever he said went and no one wanted to be on his bad side.

"All right. We're all here so let's begin. There's not a lot to talk about other than we all know we're not supposed to use our powers unless absolutely necessary. Also behave for your teachers. Just because your technically F4 doesn't mean you can misbehave," Yoon Ji Hoo reminded. He was teaching medicine at the medical school and was the grandson of the late president of Korea.

"Also my friend is the new English teacher," So Yi Jeong said. He taught art and was a famed artist himself. After his tenure he was to inherit his father's gallery.

"Why did you hire two new teachers?" Donghyun asked. "Why were the others fired?"

"They weren't fired. They went back to high school level."

Lucky them. English on the college level was completely different. They had a lot more they had to master. By the time they graduated they were expected to be completely fluent. F4 and those around them had already mastered that sort were typically bored in class.

"Jeongmin," Yi Jeong said, forcing the other man to look up, "don't antagonize my friend. She's got a nasty temper. She will embarrass you in class if you attack her. I know how much you talk. Unless you want your butt handed to you, don't do it."

"You say that like I run people off," the man in question defended.

"What about Professor Uhn?" Kwangmin asked.

"Or Dr. Jang?" Hyunseong tossed in.

"Then there was Professor Hwang," Minwoo added.

"Okay. So three teachers have quit because I challenged them. They should have been ready," he finished.

"Baye isn't like that. She grew up in New Zealand with her Kiwi mother while her Korean father worked in Australia. She's very outspoken and excellent at what she does. She's not afraid of anything," Ji Hoo added.

"How do you know her?" Youngmin asked.

"She taught at a conference we attended a few months back. It took forever to convince her that she could be useful to us," Woo Bin said. "If you want to know how bad she is, she put Jun Pyo in his place and embarrassed him. She's a spitfire."

Jeongmin and Donghyun shared a look. They knew the four hadn't given them all the information, but they couldn't challenge them outright about it. They needed evidence before they could say anything.

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Baye sat in her office and stared at the front wall. How in the world had Yi Jeong gotten her to take the job here? It was her temper. She knew it was. He had caught her in a moment of anger and had gotten her to accept.

She wanted to kill him but she was in his territory and couldn't touch him.

"Maybe Ji Hoo will help me," she muttered then shook her head. "Nah. He would just help Yi Jeong make fun of me more. Well let's see whether or not I call you Oppa."

"Are you talking to yourself again?"

Baye looked up. "Hey, Woo Bin. I'm just thinking."

"Out loud obviously." She made a face at him. "Are you ready for your first class?"

"No."

"Too late."

He hauled her up and led her from her office. She really didn't want to go. Her focus had been on teenagers from middle school to high school. In no way did she think she would end up teaching college. She had hated college when she had gone. Why would she want to teach them now? She was going to be the meanest teacher they knew. The Korean standards were way higher than those in New Zealand or Australia where she had taught once before. They thought they were going to get away with murder but she had some bad news for them.

She felt like she was being led to a slaughter. She knew how kids in their twenties could act. She wasn't much older than twenty so she still remembered the days when she thought she knew better than her professors. Now as she saw herself in her kids, she realized how foolish she had been. Now she just wanted her kids to understand that it was okay for them not to know everything. If it meant being antagonistic to them, then so be it.

She heard their loud voices out in the hallway and itched to turn around. In fact she did, but Woo Bin was right behind her. He caught her by the shoulders and turned her around to push her forward. He knew that even though she dreaded going inside, she was going to go anyway. She just wanted to test his resolve for it as well. She fought the urge to kick him in the shins, but he was trained in martial arts and could easily avoid any frontward attacks. He was prepared for them. He had to be considering her temper.

Baye peeked around the sliding doors at the kids gathered for her lecture. What was she going to talk about? Half of them probably already knew English well enough to know when she was making fun of them. She tried not to make fun of her students but sometimes they got on her nerves and she did it to rile them. She was a college professor. She could get away with it better than she could at the high school level.

Woo Bin ruffled the mass of black curls beside him. Baye had been Yi Jeong's friend from Sweden. She had been on scholarship in Stockholm when she had met the man. They had become friends and had talked the entire time they had stayed in Sweden. When he had returned home, she had taken the same flight to Korea then had flown on the New Zealand.

They had had the hardest time getting her to agree to come to South Korea to teach. She had refused at first, but after enough harping she had finally agreed. She had argued with them about salary and where she should live, but they had finally won the upper hand with her. Now she was living with Ji Hoo and working for a little more than what a normal teacher would earn. She still hated them for it.

"Treat them like they're young Goo Jun Pyo's," he whispered before he shoved her into the room and slammed the door.

Baye turned around and growled at the door. Woo Bin smiled cheekily at her then disappeared. She swore he flounced down the hallway. She was going to kill him when she saw him again. Turning around, she took in her class. They were all the same in her eyes. The ones who came here on parents' money tried to get away with anything. They weren't going to get away with it with her. She wasn't there to coddle them. Then there were the ones who worked their butts off and slacked off. She had no pity for them. And the third one was the kids who had the scholarships and worked hard. Those were the ones she would help.

She sighed and walked to the front of the room and set her books down. This was going to be a long semester.

"All right! Settle down!"

Jeongmin heard the voice and turned in his seat to see who had called them. The new teacher was finally here. She didn't look intimidating in the least bit. She was barely taller than him, and she didn't look like she could handle the thirty of them in the room. She started taking roll, and various kids called out they were there.

"Kwan Jeongmin?"

Every head in the room turned to him, even Donghyun's whose name had been called along with the C's. He cut his eyes and shook his head. He was warning his friend not to utter anything other than here.

"Kwan Jeongmin?"

He looked down at the front of the room again. She had found him and was waiting his response. He made eye contact with her. Hers narrowed slightly, daring him to say something.

"I'm here," he said as he raised his hand.

She marked his name off the list and continued with the roll. He watched her until he was certain he had gotten under her skin. Obviously not many people were able to deal with her bold look, but he wasn't the type to back down. He was known as the sassiest member of F4's additions. He was also the group's jokester along with Minwoo.

"I'm sure you're concerned as to why your professor was changed at the last minute. It seems Professor Uhn decided to go back to teaching high school kids. I don't have to ask who was responsible because I have a feeling I already know." Her eyes pierced him. She already knew it was him. "My name is Dr. Baye Lee. I know normally you would say my surname last, but I was raised in New Zealand where my name is Romanized. I will answer to either Dr. Baye or Dr. Lee. Never refer to me in the familiar while in the classroom. I won't answer it and I will fail you for the day."

She was feisty. Jeongmin's interest was piqued instantly. He leaned forward and listened intently to the rest of the speech.

"You will be expected to read ten English books and write a five page report on all ten. If you can't do the math, that's fifty pages all together. Yes, you have to write it in English, and no, you cannot Romanize it. Any paper that is not turned in will be an automatic zero. If you miss two papers, you fail the class. The final in this class will be all inclusive. Everything you have learned is important. You will be tested on it. If you try to get a doctor's note saying you don't have to take any of my tests, you will be considered an idiot and you will fail. Missing a test is one thing. Making it up is something completely different. I will drop one grade, but you have to make the argument as to which grade it is."

She wasn't missing a thing. Jeongmin marveled at her incredible speech. It was laced by a thick Australian accent as she spoke in Korean. She was well versed in the language though it wasn't her mother tongue.

"Are there any questions?" she asked. A person raised her hand. "Yes?"

"How many languages do you speak?" she asked.

"I speak six: English, Korean, Japanese, Swedish, French and German. I can teach anywhere in the world but my friend conned me into working here."

"You seem like the type who would fight," Donghyun said in front of him.

"Oh, I did, but Yi Jeong is a very persistent little man." The class gasped and she hit her fist on the desk. "Hey, hey! Just because I didn't grow up here doesn't mean I don't know etiquette. Yi Jeong and I are the same age. We were born on the same day in the same year, but I'm older by twenty minutes. I can call him that, no matter his position."

She checked her watch. "Class is dismissed. I expect a full roster on Wednesday and you better be prepared. I'm not going to treat you as children."

Donghyun waited for him as Jeongmin descended the steps. He lowered his voice. "Did you see that when she looked dead at you? Did you see her eyes?"

Jeongmin nodded. "I did. That woman is one of the Wild Powers, but I wonder which one." They walked side by side down the steps so no one would hear them. "Do you think Yi Jeong hyung and Woo Bin hyung know?"

"They have to since they hired her, but I wonder if they know which one she is. There are only five born every five hundred years, and then they're nearly impossible to find. What are the odds that one fell right into Shinhwa?"

The young man understood. "You think they're protecting her?"

"Who else would have the power to protect a Wild Power within the school? Only F4 can do it. That must be the reason they brought her here. But we can't ask unless we know what she can do."

He hated that, but Jeongmin agreed. They needed to know what the woman could do. Wild Powers could only be accessed by extremely stressful situations. Most didn't know they were Wild Powers until it was too late. Those who did went into hiding for the rest of their lives. There had never been a case where a Wild Power procreated.

"What should we do?" he asked.

"We have to protect her. We have to make sure a child is born to her. The council demands it."

They looked back at the woman who was talking with other students. Whatever the reason their friends had brought her here for, they were obligated to protect her. But Jeongmin wasn't obligated to make it easy on her.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I honestly have no idea where this story came from. All I know is I thought what would it be like if F4 had something even more special than good looks and money, and what if they led others like this? Then I just tossed in the new names and decided to make it go from there. I think I know how it's going to go, but it can always change.

Also this may take longer because the computer I have been using decided it didn't want to cooperate. So I'm using one that is as much of a butthead as the other one, but it at least doesn't overheat all the time on me. I lose my work that way and it annoys me. I wish I had another one. I guess I have to wait until Christmas for it. That's all I'm asking for this year.

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"Oppa, do we have any eggs?" Baye asked as she stood in the kitchen fridge.

Since having moved to Korea, she had lived with Yoon Ji Hoo in his house. That had been an argument she had won. Unlike some of the other teachers who had just picked up their lives and moved of their own free will, Baye hadn't been able to do that. She didn't want to be anywhere alone, so she had fought tooth and nail with the guys to live with one of them. Jun Pyo was living with his doctor wife and Yi Jeong's girlfriend lived with him. Woo Bin was still living with his parents. That left Ji Hoo. Fortunately, he had volunteered his house without too much argument.

Not that it mattered. When he wasn't teaching, Ji Hoo was at his clinic helping patients. He would stay out until late at night to make up for the fact that he was missing out on helping them. He had adjusted his schedule so he only taught three days and could work the other two at the clinic. He really had a hard life.

Baye tried not to make it any harder on him. After teaching a full day, she did the grocery shopping, cleaning, and cooking. She made sure all the laundry was done and everything was neat and tidy. She did it so he didn't have to worry about it when he returned home from a full day. And because her salary hadn't come in yet, he also paid her in spending money. This was after he had bought a new bedroom suit for her room. He was really a gentle man.

"There should be," he said as he came from his office. "I bought them the other day after you told me we needed them."

He stepped up behind her and reached over her shoulder to rummage in the fridge. She couldn't help but laugh. She was about three inches shorter than him but he still was able to reach over her. She turned her head slightly and knocked her forehead into his cheek.

"You're being weird again," he laughed as he handed her the eggs.

"I do that when I'm feeling in a particularly good mood," she said. "I'm not fully Korean remember."

"Even your Korean half knows better than to do weird things."

"No, weird would be if I jumped you right here and now and demanded we sleep together in the kitchen. That's weird."

Ji Hoo paused on the steps and looked at her. "I don't even want to know where you get these thoughts." She shrugged at him as she opened the carton. "I'm supposed to tell you to make enough for ten people. Eleven if you count yourself. Yi Jeong is bringing people over tonight."

"The house is a mess," she said loud enough for him to hear it around the corner.

"I'll deal with that," he called back.

She knew he would so she wasn't too worried. She continued making dinner like there wasn't going to be anyone coming over. She hated the thought of others she didn't know coming into the house. She had never really been an outgoing person. She was attached to the four who had brought her here. They had been her saving grace since she didn't know many Koreans. She had never been here before since none of her grandparents were living and her father wanted to forget about his homeland. It was a new territory. Just like Sweden had been, and she had survived there too.

Baye made an Australian version of bibimbap. She was still learning how to make Korean cuisine. So far the only things she had learned were egg rollups, kimbap, and fried rice. Luckily her host was okay with ordering out a couple times a week and having westernized food since his friend wasn't from his country. Ji Hoo was well versed in manners.

She heard the vacuum cleaner before she saw the man wielding it. He ran over the floor with lightning speed. It's not like they had a nasty house. It just needed to be swept and vacuumed once or twice a week. She usually took care of that but he wanted her to make enough food for eleven people. It would take some time.

Hating the sudden silence the vacuum created when it was turned off, she flipped on some music. It helped ease the nerves that threatened to overcome her. She acted like it wouldn't bother her in the least.

She had been setting everything on serving dishes when she heard the front door open. Woo Bin was the only one who Ji Hoo would let just walk into his house without knocking. She thought it was because he was older by a few months. Whatever the reason. he walked right on in.

He waved at her then sat down right where the food was. She frowned at him, still annoyed that he had shoved her into her calss that morning. So to take it out on him, she stabbed his hand with her chopsticks.

"Stay out of it," she ordered. He went for it again and she smacked him hard enough it could be heard in the next room. "I said stay out of it."

"I hate how mean you can be," he whined. She scowled at him. "You didn't make stir fry this time?"

"No, it's not what Ji Hoo Oppa wanted."

Woo Bin made a face just as there was another knock at the door. This time it was Yi Jeong who came in, but he led six people behind him. She recognized two of them. Cho Donghyun and Kwan Jeongmin led four others into the house. She bit back a curse as she realized these were the kids that were directly under the influence of F4.

She punched Woo Bin for good measure. "Are you crazy?"

"They were our friends before they were our students. Besides, none of them are taking any of the courses that we teach. Jeongmin and Donghyun are English Literature majors, the twins and Minwoo are music majors and Hyunseong is studying to be a teacher. The only class they have in common is yours," he explained with a cheeky grin.

If she had more force behind her, she would have stabbed him in the neck. She hated when people played games with her and that's what this felt like. It was all a game. All she wanted to do was rest after the long day she had but no! The four idiots who had dragged her here were forcing her to sit with their friends. She could just kill them.

On the other side of the room, Jeongmin didn't realize his English teacher lived with his mentors. They hadn't been kidding when they said she was their friend, but he didn't think they meant she lived with them. He looked down at the table where her hands rested. She had made enough food for them all, but she didn't look like she was hungry anymore.

He watched as she slammed the spoon down on the table and stormed off. They heard a door slam down the hall. Yi Jeong sighed and followed after her. The two twenty-eight year olds were going to get into a fight right in front of everyone.

"Is that the Noona teacher?" Minwoo asked.

"Yes, that would be Baye. She's annoyed at me at the moment," Woo Bin said. "I kind of forgot to tell Ji Hoo to tell her that her students would be here. From what I heard you guys decided to act all nonchalant with her." He pierced Jeongmin with a dirty glared.

Jeongmin sat down at the table. "I didn't do anything to her today. I merely said I was here in class."

"You gave her a challenge," Donghyun argued. "We've already seen she's got a temper. Why do you want to test it?" Jeongmin looked at him, and he immediately read into the expression. "No, you can't do that. We don't know what can happen."

Ji Hoo settled behind the counter. "What are you talking about?"

The two looked at each other. They had agreed not to bring it up to the older ones because they wanted to gather more evidence to support their claim, but this was too real a time to leave it alone. The others needed to know as well, especially if she didn't know how to control it. She could easily hurt someone if she didn't know what she was or how to control what she was able to do.

Donghyun shook his head, begging Jeongmin not to say anything. He didn't want to upset the kids in the room or the woman just out of earshot. Jeongmin was very serious when he needed to be. Right now wasn't the time to bring out that seriousness. He needed to relax and let things play out, but Donghyun knew that wasn't the way it was going to happen. He was going to ask right here.

Woo Bin and Ji Hoo shared a look. They had known the six people in front of them long enough to know that they would bring a rumor without some truth behind it. Donghyun was the smart on in the group. He took his time with everything he did and made sure he had enough information before he ran his mouth. He was the complete opposite of the maknae or youngest one Minwoo. The kid ran his mouth all the time. It was amazing he was even in his freshman year of college.

"What is it?" Ji Hoo asked.

Donghyun and Jeongmin continued the staring contest to see who was going to win. Finally Donghyun just gave up and waved his hand at his friend. Jeongmin wasn't going to give up when he was concerned.

"We were in class when we noticed that Professor Lee had a strange light in her eyes when she was talking to us in class. They literally sparked and danced with power as she spoke," Jeongmin explained. He watched as the older two men looked at each other again. "By your looks you already knew that she was a Wild Power."

The taller twin, Youngmin, dropped his hand to the table. "Why didn't you tell us? Does she not know or something?"

"No, she doesn't," Yi Jeong said as he came from the bedroom. The door was locked securely behind him. "The first time I noticed it was when we were students in Sweden. She lost her temper and it erupted from her. After she had calmed down, she didn't remember using it."

"So her memory is erased when she uses her power?" Hyunseong asked.

"She doesn't have control over it like we do. If it's unleashed without her knowing it, it short circuits her brain and she can't remember using it."

"What is she?" Kwangmin asked. "There are only four Wild Powers born every five hundred years. How do we know what she wields?"

"It's Wild Fire." They all turned as Jun Pyo walked into the house. "A fire can sense another fire. That woman has Wild Fire and doesn't even know it. If it gets too out of control, she could seriously hurt someone."

"Youngmin, can you sense it?" Woo Bin asked.

Youngmin closed his eyes and sank into the warmth of hid was always comforting to be able to wrap himself in something that was purely his.

He expanded his senses to encompass the house and felt for another heat signature. He found it instantly. Following his instinct, he stood and followed the heat to the door. It was so much hotter than his own fire. He now understood what Jun Pyo meant when he said heat could always find heat.

"Is her body temperature higher than normal?" he asked.

"It feels like she's running a fever, but I've noticed it's her normal body temperature," Yi Jeong explained.

"I can feel it through the door." Youngmin pressed his cheek to the door and stayed there for a moment. "Is she always like this? Is it always this hot when it comes to her?"

"Yes, but it can be worse. I've felt it burn so hot that it nearly scalded me. That's why we have to keep her safe and away from anyone who will hurt her. they will take her Wild Fire, they will use it against her. Then we'll have to wait another five hundred years for the possibility for another Wild Fire power to be born. They already found the other Wild Powers. We can't let them get their hands on this one," Ji Hoo said.

"So what should we do?" Hyunseong asked. "We can't leave her alone. And I'm not talking about here at the house. She's safer here even though Ji Hoo hyung doesn't fight. He will still do whatever he can to protect her."

He was right. Ji Hoo didn't fight. It wasn't that he couldn't, but his power gave him a heavier conscience. He was a healer. If they were ever in a fight, he stood at the back and waited until it was over. Then he healed them and beat them himself. It didn't matter what they were doing.

"What do you suggest?" Jun Pyo asked.

Jeongmin looked at the people as they stared at him. He didn't know why they were looking at him, but he didn't like it. It took him a minute to realize where the conversatin had gone and what they were staring at him about. When it finally registered, he shook his head.

"No," he said. "I won't do it."

"You probably won't have a choice," Woo Bin said.

"You'll have to watch your mouth," Donghyun said. Jeongmin cut his eyes to him. "You have a mouth on you that you haven't learned to keep in check. I'm pretty sure your tricks won't be appreciated either."

"Yeah. Baye has a weird sense of humor. If she's not use to yours, she will just get mad," Yi Jeong explained.

"I know her schedule. i can get you wherever she is at any time," Ji Hoo said.

Jeongmin didn't know how he got bullied into being the lackey to a woman who would rather fail him then speak to him. He glared at Donghyun as Yi Jeong and Ji Hoo pulled dishes out of the cabinet. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive this one.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This sucks that I have a tempermental computer. I just want to chuck it at something and make it work. My phone would work after I threw it at the wall and on the floor. I'm amazed that the screen didn't crack. Oh well.

Now to verify something. A Wild Power is a power that hasn't been in use for centuries. It's called wild because most of the time the person who wields it doesn't know they have it or has a hard time in controlling it. But that's all I can really say about it right now because it will be revealed in later chapters.

Also if you know anything about BOYFRIEND, you'll that there is an age difference of six years between Donghyun and Minwoo. In this story there is only a year age difference because I wanted it uniform. So I just changed the ages for this story since the characters are based off the real-life people.

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Baye was a normal woman. Or she liked to think she was a normal woman. She got up and went to work. She sometimes went out with friends (F4) or coworker (also F4 and now some new teachers), but most of the time she stayed home and worked on papers. Never had she imagined that she would be tailed by some of her students.

At first she thought they were just following her to get to know her better, that they were just curious about their new teacher. But after a few days she realized there something more going on. It was always the same guy, Jeongmin she thought his name was. He had blond hair that was always stylishly messy and pushed away from his face. Even when she turned and made eye contact with him, he didn't back down. She admired his tenacity but it was getting on her nerves.

She had asked some of the other teachers about the guy, and they were almost terrified of him. They had told her that he was the cause of three teachers to either go back to high school or quit teaching altogether. They had told her that she should be nervous around him, but it had only fueled her need to challenge and push him. She wasn't a pushover, and she wasn't going to become one for a kid who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut.

So in an attempt to get to the bottom of why he was following her, she called him to her office for a meeting about his attitude. It was going to start a war with him but she was prepared to go to war in an attempt to get him to behave. She didn't know if he had had a horrible upbringing or if he was just snotty. Either way, she was going to make sure he knew that it was her classroom and not his. And if he was going to run his mouth, he could bring his friends and they could all duke it out.

She was in the middle of writing an email to her mom when he knocked on her door. There was another white haired kid with him. She recognized him as Cho Donghyun from the same class as Jeongmin. He was really quiet and she had often caught him throwing death stares at his friend during class. He was a really good student she had noticed so why was he hanging out with the school bully?

Both of them came in the room and she noticed they had matching tattoos peeking out from under the collars of their shirts on the right hand side. She couldn't tell what they were because she wasn't that close, but she knew they had to mean something for them to mark up their skin.

"You wanted to see me," Jeongmin said. He made it sound like it was boring.

Baye saw Donghyun pinch him in the ribs. It was a slight movement but one he couldn't hide if he wanted to. "Yes. Sit down."

They sat down at the same time. Something about their movements made her feel like they were caged animals ready to pounce. She couldn't pinpoint where she had seen that before, but it was very real and it plagued the border of her memory.

"Ma'am, what is it you wish to discuss?" Donghyun's voice was gentle and calm, pitched low enough that he didn't startle her. Not that he would have anyway.

"Are you his retainer of sorts?" she asked. He quirked an eyebrow as he tilted his head. "I've seen you plenty of times in class trying to keep him from being a snark. Is that your full time job?"

"No, ma'am. Jeongmin just has a bad case of wanting to be better than everyone."

"And you have a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth," Jeongmin quipped under his breath. He cast Donghyun a look and shook his head almost in an imperceptive manner.

This wasn't how the meeting was supposed to go. He was supposed to go in, get her riled up, then back down so the others wouldn't have to put out a deadly fire. But here he was answering all sorts of questions that he normally wouldn't. Every teacher he had had since freshman year was all kinds of nervous around him because of his mouth, but this one didn't have a fear in the world. She watched him with an open yet closed expression. It was like she had so much more than Wild Fire attached to her.

Something sparked and popped around Jeongmin. There was a fissure around him that snapped, crackled and popped. It was almost the sound of Rice Krispies when you poured the milk into the bowl. Without being obvious she leaned forward slightly and listened as much as she could. There was something so much more going on with these two guys, and unfortunately she knew what it was. It was the same thing that was going on with F4 and her mother.

She recognized it immediately, and that scared her. But it wasn't in her personality to step back from something she knew. She was going to face it head on even if it scared her.

"Jeongmin, touch this lamp," she said.

Jeongmin's reaction was instantaneous. His head snapped to her and his mouth fell open. So he knew what he could do. He looked at Donghyun then. The white haired guy nodded even though he knew it was going to mean exposing themselves. They didn't know how much she knew, but she knew enough to recognize when someone had a power.

Tentatively, he reached out. As soon as his finger touched the light bulb it flashed on. It took a minute, but Baye finally looked up from the lamp. Donghyun and Jeongmin sat absolutely still as they waited for her to scream or yell or something.

Instead, she stood and walked to the door. She closed it and flipped the lock. The other two were instantly scared. Only one of two things was going to happen. She was either going to kill them right then and there, or she was going to flip out on them. All it would take was one word and their entire lives were over.

Baye licked her lips as she thought over what it meant. This wasn't an isolated thing. How many people around the world were blessed (or cursed if you looked at it that way) with extra powers? She had thought it had only been her mother, but now as she looked at it that wasn't the case.

"What can you do?" she asked Donghyun.

"I can control sound," he answered without a hitch.

They weren't going to fight her anymore. "Are you hanging out with F4 because they're like you in the fact they can control some of the elements?"

Jeongmin looked at Donghyun. His expression asked what they should do. They hadn't anticipated that she knew everything. The way Yi Jeong had explained it made it sound like she had no idea about their world. Now she was asking what they could do and the reason they were with F4. How could they tell her they hadn't had a choice but to join them?

"What are you doing for lunch?" she asked. She looked so weary now.

"We were meeting our friends," Donghyun replied, "but I can see all of us need to meet with Woo Bin hyung."

Baye excused them from her office and sat behind her desk. She had known when she had met Yi Jeong in Sweden what he was. Her mother had taught her what to look out for. There was always a tell as to what a person could do. Yi Jeong's hands had been covered in a light green hue when he had worked with clay or anything else earth based. When Ji Hoo worked with his patients his hands glowed with an almost angelic light. Jun Pyo and Woo Bin were almost impossible to tell apart because they had nearly the same color.

She could tell just by looking at the two that something was different. Donghyun was quiet, like he had always been listening. Jeongmin always looked like a spitfire. Now she understood the reason.

(*(*(*(*(

"We have a problem," Jeongmin said as they all met in a music room.

Hyunseong looked up from his textbook. "What is it?"

"Ms. Lee knows what we are and what we can do?"

"Doesn't this change everything we were told?" Youngmin asked. "Didn't they say she doesn't know about her power?"

"She may not know about hers but she knows about ours. I'm not sure how, but she does. She had Jeongmin touch the light bulb in her lamp. Obviously we all know what happened when he did that," Donghyun said.

They sat in silence for a little bit as it sank in. Things were progressing way faster than they thought they would. They had figured they had a couple of weeks before she started asking questions. Instead she had started asking questions after two days. They didn't know what to do. Luckily she had asked for everyone to be present. That included F4. They were the ones who were better equipped to answer any questions she had.

They waited in near silence. The only things that could be heard were Hyunseong's pen scratching on the paper and the pages turning in Donghyun's book. How the man could read when everyone else was stressed out was beyond all of them.

The door to the music room and in spilled F4. Yi Jeong walked with Baye. He seemed to be calming her down, but she looked angry at him nonetheless. Woo Bin pulled out a chair and Baye sat down. They all pulled their in a circle and waited for her to say something.

Baye looked around the circle at the ten men. This was so intimidating, but she couldn't tell them that. Yi Jeong knew how she was, but if she were to admit that she was he would change how he viewed her.

"Why did you call us here?" Jun Pyo asked. The younger guys were shocked at his calm tone. Usually he was very strict with them and anyone else he came in contact with. But with Baye he was gentle.

Baye lifted her eyes and made contact with Jeongmin. He looked a little nervous and that was probably the first time he had ever felt that way. She didn't know how she was going to explain how she knew.

"Baye?" Yi Jeong said. She smiled at him. "Is everything all right?"

Jeongmin noticed the tortured look on her face. She didn't know whether to blast them about being found out or keep it to herself. But there was also an underlying emotion there that she was desperately trying to hide. Concern bubbled up in him, and he looked Jun Pyo dead in the face.

"She knows what we can do," he said. "We were sitting in her office when she told me to touch the light bulb."

The four older guys looked between each other, silently conversing even though it was written all over their faces. They had the same thought the younger ones did. They should have had more time to get her to understand what was going on.

Jun Pyo looked at Donghyun, and the younger one shook his head. Whatever the look, Donghyun understood the meaning behind it.

"Baye," he said as he changed his attention, "how did you know what we could do?"

"I don't know what you and Woo Bin Oppa can do because you're so closely resembled, but Yi Jeong Oppa has connections to the earth. Ji Hoo Oppa can heal. Jeongmin uses electricity and Donghyun can control sound," she said. She sat on her hands because they were shaking.

"How did you know that?" Yi Jeong asked.

"Your skin." Everyone looked their hands over. Some even rolled up their sleeves. So Baye focused on those she didn't know very well. "You," she pointed to Hyunseong, "you're normal. I can't tell what you are. But you," her attention was on Kwangmin, "are ice. Your fingers are blue. And the boy beside him is different." That was Minwoo who was sitting beside him.

Finally her gaze fell on Youngmin and she had to sit back a minute. His skin wasn't wrapped in a hue. He was completely different. His whole body was wrapped with a low simmering flame that said he was at peace.

"I hope I never make you mad," she muttered.

Donghyun heard it but he didn't react. He had figured out how she knew what they could do. She could see it on their person. He slipped into his power and realized she was right. If they looked just under the surface, they could easily find out what each other could do. It made sense how the other found the Wild Powers so quickly. Could all Wild Powers do that?

"Baye," Ji Hoo's voice was soft as he spoke, "how do you know about us?"

"My mother can control water," she said.

"You never told me that," Yi Jeong said.

"I never told anyone. I didn't tell you when we were in Sweden that I knew what you could do."

Jun Pyo licked his lips then nodded. "All right. Go on. We'll talk to you later."

Baye was all too happy to run away from them. She had been nervous the entire time. She had known that her cheeks had been red while sitting there with all of them, but there hadn't been any stopping the heat that had infused them as she had sat there.

Back in the music room, it was once again silent. None of them knew how to handle the new information. How could someone so new to this lifestyle know what they were able to do by just a look? It dident seem possible but it was. Baye was able to tell them exactly what she could do.

"What should we do?" Youngmin asked.

"All Wild Powers must have the ability because they are so powerful. Whether most of them understand what it means has yet to be seen," Jun Pyo said.

"We have to protect her," Woo Bin advised. "We can't let them get their hands on her. She's the last one."

"But it would be hard for us teachers to do it. We're all in separate departments," Ji Hoo reminded.

"Then it's up to them," Yi Jeong tossed out. "They're around here more than we are. Jeongmin and Donghyun have the most English classes, granted most of them are literature. They're there though."

"You need to remember that she hates Jeongmin already," Donghyun said. Jeongmin gave him an evil look. "What do we do with that?"

"Hold your tempers. She may know what we are but I'm definitely sure she doesn't know what she is. We don't want to scare her any more than she already is." Leave it to Ji Hoo to know what was wrong with her.

"This may be harder than we thought," Youngmin said.

"You're going to have to get close to her. She's going to need to trust you so don't follow her everywhere unless you feel like you have to."

"This is going to be way too hard to deal with," Kwangmin groaned.

They all agreed but couldn't say it out loud. This was going to be so much more than thought it would. How many of them would come out of it in one piece?


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: This one is late because the computer decided it wanted to start a war. So I asked my dad to fix my sister's computer. He tried, and then the stupid thing gave me the blue screen of death. So now I have to decide whether or not I want to write or watch my drama. So I watched my drama this morning and I will write this evening. Now I have church after this chapter so I won't be posting until later on tonight. So hopefully you're not dying too much.

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"Why are you following me again?" Baye asked as she saw Jeongmin hanging around the edge of her building. She was getting ready to head to the grocery store then head home.

Jeongmin looked up as he scuffed his shoe on the ground. He had waited for a long while as she had finished her last lecture of the day. Ji Hoo had been gracious enough to supply them all with her day-to-day schedule so they could coordinate who would be where they could watch her as she walked across campus. They had been told to make sure someone always kept an eye on her.

Today just happened to be his day. Tuesdays and Thursdays he had the afternoons off and most of the time spent them with Donghyun in the library actually reading texts they needed for class. But since this whole Wild Power thing had come up, he would spend most of his time trailing a teacher that didn't even like him.

He met Baye's weary face and felt horrible for laying in wait. He pushed off the wall and walked up to her. She stepped back slightly and that hurt for some unknown reason. He held out his hand and she once again shied away. She was afraid of him, but he didn't back down. He pointed at her bag then motioned for it with his hand.

"If you're going shopping, then you'll need your hands free," he rationalized.

Baye loosened her hands slowly. There wasn't much she could do when he looked at her with those earnest eyes. For once he wasn't being snarky or a jerk. He was simply being a gentle human being.

Very slowly, she handed him the backpack slung over one shoulder. Jeongmin took it and slung it over top of his. He motioned for her to move ahead of him. Not really like the idea, she stepped to the side and let him walk beside her. It was an easier way for her to keep an eye on him.

They walked in silence until they got to the street where Baye hailed a taxi. Jeongmin held the door open so she could slide inside. She told the driver where he needed to go. She rummaged in the bag that Jeongmin had set to the side while they rode in the car.

Neither one knew what to say as the car started into traffic. Baye stared out one window and Jeongmin the other. It wasn't like they couldn't talk to each other, but one was too afraid to speak and the other wanted to say something but knew his companion wouldn't answer whatever he wanted to know.

The car pulled up to the curb and stopped. Baye handed the man exact change and slid out the side door. Jeongmin nodded at the driver then followed her into the grocery store. She grabbed a small basket and started immediately for the vegetables. He followed closely behind her, wondering whether or not Donghyun was going to make dinner that night or if he would spend it in the library like he was prone to doing.

Baye mentally went over the list of things that F4 liked and could eat. Jun Pyo had an allergy to shellfish and Ji Hoo was allergic to coconut. Woo Bin and Yi Jeong ate everything and anything they could get their hands on. Baye herself was allergic to beef and pork, so that limited anything she could eat in the country. Beef stock was out of the question to cook with so she relied heavily on chicken and vegetable stock. They had so much in the house they could swim in it.

"Bean sprouts," she muttered suddenly and wheeled around in the opposite direction.

The action caught Jeongmin off guard and they collided in the middle of the aisle. Jeongmin caught her around the waist to steady her but that pressed them together. They stared at each other for a long minute before he set upright. Without a word he snatched the basket from her and continued in the direction of the bean sprouts.

Baye couldn't help the laugh that came from her. For such a short man, Jeongmin was strong. He held her like she was a rag doll. It should have been hard because they were the exact same height, and Baye wasn't the average Korean woman. She was of mixed heritage and was shaped like her mother. He should have had a hard time supporting her weight.

She caught up to him and saw him pondering over which pack of bean sprouts she should buy. It was really funny because he had no idea what she was making for dinner. She stood behind him and watched as he picked up the biggest package and set it in the basket. Even if he was one of the Guardians as they were called, he wasn't that bad of a person. He just had a nasty attitude.

He continued down the aisle and picked up eggs even though they had plenty, bean paste, and an item she couldn't identify. He turned and went down the aisle to his immediate left. He grabbed a large pack of ramen and tossed it in before handing him the basket.

"I figured this is what you were going to eat tonight," he said. "Call it an estimated guess."

She laughed at his use of phrasing. "You mean an educated guess. And you were spot on. I'm not the type of person to lie about what I like. By the way, get some apples too."

He gave her a droll stare. "Do I look like a pack mule to you?"

Her stare was just as droll. "Do you even know what a pack mule is?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "And yeah, you kind of do. You are carrying my bag on top of yours."

Jeongmin watched her walk past him. She was always ready for a quip that left them baffled. He wondered how Yi Jeong and the others dealt with it.

They checked out and started heading to her house. He hadn't realized how close she actually lived to the grocery store. The other guys lived further away but they had staff that would shop for them. As far as he knew, Ji Hoo had never really kept staff since he had graduated high school.

Baye was calm as she walked the familiar streets. Jeongmin noticed she had a light air to her step. A couple of people said good evening to her as they passed by. She seemed completely at home here.

"Why are you so nervous around us?" he asked out of the blue.

"My mother is paralyzed from the waist down due to a supposed Guardian turning his power on her. There was nothing anyone could do for her so now she's in a wheel chair for the rest of her life. She makes the most out of it but I can tell she misses cross country running," she answered immediately. "I was there when it happened and bear an ice scar from it." She patted her shoulder. "It will never heal and hurts sometimes but I've learned to live with it."

"I bet it wasn't easy."

She looked at him, but her expression wasn't one of disdain. "Have you ever been attacked with someone's power? Have you ever been at someone's mercy? The only reason I lived is because my mother threw herself in front of the attack. I only got a ricochet of it."

"What could have happened?"

"They say that if you're pierced in the heart with someone's ice, your heart will freeze. I think you just die because I'm freaking practical like that, but there is truth in every rumor."

She turned around and started walking backwards, her hands behind her back to steady her. "I'm not the type to cry wolf so I went on with my life. Mom runs a florist and arranges flowers for high end buyers while my dad makes a living in Australia. He comes home every other weekend though."

"So they're still married?"

"Separated but yes."

Jeongmin didn't know how bad something like that could be. His parents and siblings were still alive and supportive of his power though a little wary. He had a bad habit of shorting out the house when he touched the light switch.

Baye let him into the house through the back entrance. They kicked their shoes off in the garden and walked sock footed through the house. It didn't take long for Baye to ditch those too and just walk in bare feet. Clearly not accustomed to Korean culture, she did what she wanted.

"Do you ever miss home?" he asked as he set her bag down and she rummaged through the grocery bags.

"All the time, but it's a good experience to be here. It's my dad's culture so I get to experience it even though he's not with me. He emails me every day and asks for pictures of everywhere I go. He actually works at Shinhwa's Australian branch as an accountant so he gets all the perks," she replied as she set things aside she would need for ramen. "There's a cabinet behind you that holds all the pots. Would you hand me three of the ramen pots?"

He didn't want to tell her that he knew where everything was in this house, so he turned dutifully and grabbed them. The polished metal gleamed in the light as he handed them over to her.

"Why are you making three?"

"You're here. I'm not going to leave without some sort of thanks. Luckily for you I can cook."

"In that case let me help."

She didn't say anything as he washed his hands and set about chopping the green onions and the random pepper she had thrown in while she set the water to boil and made her own seasoning. Once all of the veggies were chopped, she put them in bowl of chicken broth and stirred them together.

"Beef broth works better," he recommended.

"I'm allergic to beef, dairy, and pork. So I have to be extra careful of what I make for dinner. I don't eat out much because it's expensive to buy off the select menus. Oppa or I usually cook, or Yi Jeong brings me something," she said as she closed the lids to all three pots.

Jeongmin was slightly shocked. "You called him Yi Jeong just now."

"I'm not in a kind mood to be calling him Oppa."

"Did he say something to you?"

"Ask him later. If I talk about it, it'll tick me off."

Warning bells flashed across his brain. They weren't supposed to be making her mad because of what she could do. So he shrunk back from the conversation when everything in him said he should press further.

To quell that urge, he grabbed his backpack and pulled out his math book. This was the worst subject he had taken this semester. He had purposefully taken it to get it out of the way since he had taken his science the semester before. Even with his thoughts in the right direction, he didn't think he would be able to understand. And when would he use calculus anyway?

Baye watched Jeongmin as he studied. His hand was already in his hair and he had just started the thing. She saw a long list of numbers and cringed. It was the dreaded math, and by the looks of it, it was calculus. She watched his mouth move as he did his best to figure out what the problem was. He had the same habit she did whenever she worked a math problem. Speak it and it makes sense. Sometimes.

The front door opened and she heard Ji Hoo call out. It wasn't time for him to be home yet so something must have happened. Not wanting to seem nosy when she really was, she put the noodles in the pots and set the timers for three minutes.

Ji Hoo waved at her on his way to his room. She ticked off the seconds before he returned and sat at the island beside Jeongmin. The younger man shoved the book under his friend's nose and asked for help. Ji Hoo looked at the problem and immediately knew the answer. Then he calmly and slowly explained how to do it. By the time the timer went off, they had answered three problems.

"How often do you come over for tutoring?" she asked as Ji Hoo gathered utensils.

"A couple times a week. Ji Hoo hyung and Woo Bin hyung are the two that know numbers the best so they help all of us except Donghyun out. He understands it more than the rest of us but he can't explain things well," Jeongmin asked as she set the pot in front of him. "Minwoo, Youngmin and Kwangmin are in a lower level math, but it still gets the better of all of us. Hyunseong is the only one who can make heads or tails of it in a decent amount of time."

"So your English Lit courses are like ours. We have to have one thing of math before we can do anything else."

He nodded then tasted the broth. "Wow. This almost tastes like it belongs in a shop."

Ji Hoo shook his head. "He obviously forgot who made all that food the other night when they were here."

"Where did you learn to cook?"

"My older half-brother. He's a chef in New Zealand at one of the premiere restaurants. He gets to meet all the fancy peoples as I call them." She looked at his curious expression. "He's my mom's oldest child that she had while she was in high school. I'm ten years younger than him. I'm twenty-six and he's thirty-six. My mom is fifty-three."

"Did your dad teach you Korean?" Ji Hoo asked.

Jeongmin frowned. "Shouldn't you know that?"

The other man shook his head. "I didn't care as long as we could communicate."

"That is a sucky way to be a friend."

"We didn't start out as friends. In fact the only reason he didn't care was because Yi Jeong was paying him to let me live here. Now we're friends so we just share the house, but this one is hard to be friends with when all he does is work, eat and sleep." She poked him in the head for good measure.

Ji Hoo swatted at her hand then poked her with the other end of his chopsticks. "Stop. I'm trying to eat this. And you didn't answer my question."

"Yes, my dad taught me Korean. It's his mother tongue, but I perfected it in Sweden when I met Yi Jeong. That's all we talked in once we got to know each other."

"That's the second time you've called him Yi Jeong."

Jeongmin shook his head as he leaned over his bowl. "She's mad at him."

Ji Hoo sighed. "What did he do this time?"

"It wasn't him."

"What did Ga Eul do then?"

"Not her either."

The doctor had to wrack his brain to figure out who else was close to Yi Jeong to tick off his friends. It wasn't Jan Di because she was friends with all of them and he hadn't seen her in a while.

"You sat his mother?" he asked after two minutes of nothing but slurping.

"Not on purpose. He dragged me to the hospital to see her. I said no, but he didn't listen."

Jeongmin knew how nasty Yi Jeong's mother was. All it took was a tiny slipup and the woman went off the handle. He had met her once and had been the cause for her sedation. Now he didn't go to visit her and if he did, he stayed out in the hallway and kept his mouth shut.

"He probably didn't want to leave you alone," he said seconds before he drained the broth from the pot.

Under the island, Ji Hoo kicked him in the shin. He had almost let it slip out that there was a reason she was being dragged places and followed. He looked up at her face and realized she didn't care what they were silently arguing about as she ate her ramen. That face, he was surprised to find out, was really growing on him.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: So I don't know who to make as the bad guys in this story. I know who else are going to be good guys, but the bad guys is something I haven't thought of yet. I'm wonderin if I should keep it in the KPOP genre or make up some of my own. The other good guys are going to be in KPOP Land so I don't know if I should mix it up and add original characters or not. This is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in any story because I don't want to offend anyone if they love a certain group and they turn out to be evil. It would be pretty cool to see that though.

All right! Enough rambling! Back to the story!

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Jeongmin sat in class and listened to Professor Lee (Baye) talk about grammar and how it shouldn't be taken lightly. She talked about how each section of every English speaking country had its own dialect. Somehow she had contorted her already hard to understand voice into a southern American style, a northern American style, an Australian accent, and a couple others he still didn't think could be possible.

At the beginning of the semester, he had thought this class was going to be boring, but Baye had made it interesting. All eighty-four of them played games, and sometimes she brought together the two other classes she taught for extra practice. One day they had met in the gym and had been given name tags. She had written them in English so they could get accustomed to the Romanization whenever they went overseas. But instead of just playing a normal game, all one hundred fifty of them were to attack and rip each other's names off. The ones whose tags were gone had been instructed to come up to the dry erase board and write their Romanized name next to the corresponding number.

It was Running Man college style. She had broken them up into three teams of fifty and had instructed them to scatter all over campus with a time limit of an hour. Shinhwa University was almost attached to Shinhwa High School and they shared a lot of land. They all had wondered what the high school students had thought about one hundred fifty college students running around like crazy ripping at each other's clothes.

Jeongmin and Donghyun had luckily been on the same team, but the twins and Minwoo had been on a separate team. Hyunseong wasn't taking English this semester so he had taken his free time to come watch the mayhem and be a judge. If he had been playing, they would have been equally matched, but the twins and Minwoo had had the upper hand.

They all had heard the whistle to begin the game and everyone had lost their minds. They had chased after each other until the sound of Velcro ripping had been heard all over campus. Jeongmin and Donghyun had been smart. They had hidden away from everyone in one of the rooms that only the two of them could get into; another classroom. They had sat by the window and had watched as everyone attacked each other.

As the hour had ticked down, the two men had stayed very still. There hadn't been any need to attract any attention just yet. They were safe as long as they stayed in the third story classroom.

It had drawn nearer to the hour mark when they had seen the twins chasing after Minwoo as the younger guy raced back towards the gym. The last four standing would get a prize at the end of the game and everyone wondered what it would be.

With five minutes left in the game, Jeongmin and Donghyun had slipped out of the hour and a half class and had headed back towards the gym. Their agreement not to attack each other had worked out and they had hoped they had been the last four remaining. Just as they had gotten in the double doors, the whistle sounded and the twins had burst out of nowhere.

It had been a mad dash across the gym floor to the board. The first one there had to write his name in the fourth to last spot. The last name on the board won the game. But there had been a trick. They had to keep their name tags on their backs as they ran across the floor.

Instantly the twins had attacked. Jeongmin, used to their antics since they shared a room in their apartment, ducked the flying imbeciles and somersaulted across the floor. Youngmin landed on Donghyun and had instantly reached for his name tag. Donghyun had spun and had grabbed the younger man's tag at the same time. They had ripped the name tags off together.

Kwangmin had landed flat on his belly but had bolted up instantly. Jeongmin had been halfway to Baye when something had told him to turn around. Just as he had, Kwangmin had launched himself at him. Dropping to his knees, Jeongmin had grabbed Kwangmin by his ankles and pulled him down, pulling of his name tag in the process.

Their names had gone in order: Youngmin, Donghyun, Kwangmin and Jeongmin. Hyunseong had blown the whistle as one hundred forty-six people clapped. Baye had handed the four winners two passes to Lotte World and had instructed them to use them wisely. Everyone had separated after that.

But it wasn't just the game that had everyone listening in on her class. Baye was really funny if not a little scatterbrained. Every time they came into class there was always something new drawn on the board. Today it had been a volcano erupting and a man in a toga screaming "Vesuvius lives! He is angry at us!" For some reason everyone had found that funny.

She used them a lot during her lectures. One time she had thrown a soccer ball at one of the soccer players, but she hadn't just thrown it. No, the woman had moved the table back and her podium, had gotten a running start, had put the ball on the ground then had flipped over it before tossing it to the dude. Even the soccer player had been surprised. Then they had had to write a paragraph essay on how they had felt when she had done it. She wasn't normal.

But they could clearly see signs that she was one of them. Her eyes sparked when she was happy, a multicolored flame dancing the hazel depths. She was always happy when they were in class. Well, except when someone failed her test that she had given the answers to. That hadn't made her very happy and the student who had failed had nearly burst out into tears.

Class ended abruptly and Jeongmin realized he really hadn't paid any attention. The look Donghyun gave him a row down told him his friend had realized that he hadn't paid attention. It was Donghyun's day to watch Baye and that ruffled Jeongmin a little but he had a math lab that night so he had to go. It was when the twins had guard duty that he was really scared.

Baye was waiting at the base of the stairs when they had descended. She had packed up really quickly for some reason but she fell into step beside them when they headed for the door. A shadow fell over them and the two men tensed.

"Professor Lee, I was wondering if I could talk to you?" It was Dr. Chan, one of her colleagues in the language department. He taught Spanish and Mandarin.

"Not right now. I'm late for a meeting with my students," she answered quickly and walked right by him.

"What was that about?" Donghyun asked when they were out of earshot.

Baye should have been concerned that he was being nosy but she was too angry to care at that moment. "He keeps trying to ask me out," she answered through gritted teeth. "He's a stooge."

Jeongmin didn't like the thought of someone dating her but he didn't know why. It was like someone was impeding on his territory.

Donghyun reached for his phone all of a sudden. He checked his messages and immediately looked at Jeongmin. The younger man stepped up closer to Baye and invaded her personal space.

Baye knew something was going on but she couldn't figure it out. She felt a hand on her back pushing her forward. She didn't fight it.

They led her to her office and barred the door. They waited patiently behind the door. When there was a knock, they called out a sort of pass code. Kwangmin and Minwoo came through the door next.

"Is she here?" Minwoo asked. Baye waved at him from behind her desk. He sighed. "One of them is here. Woo Bin hyung found him at the gate. There may be more. We have to get her out of here."

"Jeongmin, can you get her home without being caught?" Donghyun asked.

Jeongmin looked at Baye and wondered if she would go with him. Baye calmly stood up and grabbed her bag as well as a stack of papers that she shoved into her bag. She looked at him and motioned to the door with her head. The four of them sighed at her response.

"You have to go quickly," Donghyun ordered.

Youngmin unlocked the door and Minwoo led the way out. They formed a diamond shape around her. Baye didn't know completely what was going on but her instincts said to trust them.

"Stick to the main roads," Donghyun advised as they came to the gate. "Don't take a car unless you know the person. Get the house and lock yourselves inside. Don't answer any number you don't know and wait until one of us gets there."

"What if some of the teachers see is?" Baye asked.

"It's already happened," Minwoo said.

Donghyun slapped him up the back of the head. "Don't worry about him. Get out of here."

Jeongmin shoved Baye out of the gate and led the way back to her house. He had no way of knowing how many were failing them. Baye was in danger and they were working towards saving her while fumbling around in the dark. They had no idea who had been sent this time or how many. They only knew that the older guys had stopped one at the entrance.

"Jeongmin," she said as he hauled her down the sidewalk.

"Not now," he advised.

"I'll make it quick. Tell me what's going on when I get home."

She put it so simply that he could only nod. She stepped up beside him and gripped his hand. By doing so, it slowed him down.

"If you walk too fast, you'll miss out on even the easiest of targets. Walk slowly and keep your senses open. You'll find them easier that way," she muttered so only he could hear.

He squeezed her hand in acknowledgement and continued his steady pace. She stayed with him just a little bit behind, far enough away from the street but close enough that he could pull her away. He had not too long ago given in to the fact that she knew more than she let on about this world so he automatically trusted her guidance. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was his teacher and more with the knowledge that she had survived a Darkling attack once before.

He felt the air stir around him. Someone was following them. All he had to do was find where it was coming from. Sucking in a deep breath, he took in the scents of the area. It was a little polluted but he could make out a clean breathing space. Someone was using his or her power to track them.

"Professor Lee, I'm going to need to use my power for a split second," he warned.

A panicked look flashed over her eyes before she nodded. He let go of her hand and sent an electric burst crackling down the clean air. There was nothing to hold it back so it would find its target shortly.

"Take this side alley right here," she said before she ducked in.

Jeongmin followed her until they were two streets over from where they had been. Baye slipped into a doorway and stood there for a long while. He wondered what she was doing until he saw someone pass by their door. It was a guy with black hair and gauge earrings. He looked up and down until he could find them, but didn't look back. With a slight curse and a head rub, he went on his way.

Baye pointed to a tiny opening. "Go through that side street and you'll be right in Gangnam. Oppa's house is two blocks away."

He took her hand again. "Let's go. I don't know how many are with him and I really don't want to find out what they can do without backup."

Once again, she didn't argue with him as he led her down the small alley way. She knew this area of town really well and he trusted her sense of direction. Just like she had said, they were two blocks away from Ji Hoo's house. Right then Jeongmin hoped against hope that the housekeeper wasn't there.

As they stepped around the corner to go to the house, Jeongmin stopped and pushed Baye back. She stood behind him as he watched the goings on at the place they were supposed to get into.

"The front of the house is being watched," he muttered.

"There's no way they can get to the back of the house. My dogs are back there and they're huge. We can sneak in over the fence," she advised.

"You have dogs?"

"Mmmhmm, I have two; Roscoe and Tiny Tim. As long as you're with me they won't bite you."

He gave her a droll over the shoulder look. "That doesn't inspire confidence."

"Okay, then go down there and demand they let us through."

He hated that she was being technical but she was right. The only way into the house was through the backyard. If her dogs bit him, he was going to be very upset.

Jeongmin pushed her towards the back of the house and urged her to go up and over the fence first. He kept watch as she disappeared over. Then she knocked on the wood to tell him it was all clear.

When he landed on the other side, he lost his balance. Those weren't dogs. They were giants. Two big fluffs of white and brown growled at him as he sat in the grass. They sat by Baye and bared their teeth at him.

"Roscoe," she scolded, rapping the brown faced one with her knuckles. She turned to the shaggier one. "Tiny Tim, hush. He's a friend."

"You call those dogs?" Jeongmin asked as he gained his feet. "Those are behemoths."

"They're Saint Bernard's. They're supposed to be this big. Roscoe is six and a little grumpy. Tiny Tim is four and a little rambunctious. They've had their shots and are complete gentlemen. The only reason they don't come in the house is because of their big butts." She patted them affectionately. "But I'm sure you can make an exception this time."

Jeongmin knew Ji Hoo was going to kill him as soon as he showed up, but how was he supposed to stop two three hundred pound fur babies without getting bitten? He couldn't do it, and he knew zapping them would rile Baye. So he sighed and settled for following them in the house.

Baye went about her normal routine when she got home early in the afternoons. She put down two bowls of food for her heathens as she called them and put on the kettle for some tea. Then she went and changed clothes. If she was going to hear about these people who had showed up at the school for her, she was going to be comfortable.

When she returned to the living room, she saw Jeongmin sitting on the back of the couch with his feet drawn up as he talked to Roscoe and Tiny Tim. Tim had his nose all pressed up in the man's personal space while the older dog just sat there looking unenthused. If he was interested he would let Jeongmin know. Just at the moment he wasn't thrilled.

"Can you call your monsters off?" Jeongmin asked as he saw her standing in the living room doorway.

"They are not monsters. They are heathens. Roscoe, go lay down. Tim, come here."

Obediently, the dogs moved. There was a fluffy blanket over in the corner that Roscoe padded over to and nudged around before finally flopping his three hundred pound self down and huffing. Tiny Tim trotted over to Baye and sat at her feet with his tail thumping as she made two cups of tea. He was a typical guy, coming when his girl called.

Baye handed Jeongmin a cup of tea and they ventured over to the couch. Tim flopped his lard butt on the floor right on top of Jeongmin's feet. Baye rubbed her feet all over the white fur of the dog as she sipped her tea.

"Does he ever get up?" Jeongmin asked.

"He's just testing you. When my dad met Tim the first time, he was barely six months old. He lay on my dad's feet for three hours straight. My dad's feet turned purple. Now Tim doesn't lay on his feet anymore. After today he won't lay on yours either," she answered.

"What about the other one?"

"Roscoe is old and grumpy. He tolerates Tim, but all he really wants to do is sleep. He'll stay over there all night if we let him. Ji Hoo likes him because he doesn't need much attention unlike the oaf on your feet. The only downside is they both like to drool."

She turned and faced him dead on. "Who were those people that were following us?"

"They're called Darklings. Not because they were born at night or anything, but because they use their powers for their own gain instead of helping people. They believe they are a higher race because they were given special powers. We're Guardians, and our name is exactly what we do. We guard humankind from the Darklings," he explained.

"So the person who attacked my mom six years ago was a Darkling?"

"Or someone who was turning into one. We choose what we want to do, but we can always decide again. We can start out as a Darkling then change to a Guardian, or vice versa but we're all human."

"All I've known are the Guardians because of my mother. She's one, and she's good at it."

"I'd like to meet her someday."

"Maybe." She was suddenly distracted. He could tell by the way she held the cup to her lips. Suddenly she put it down. "Why were they after me? Is it because I know too much?"

Jeongmin shook his head. He didn't know how to answer that. He had only heard what Yi Jeong and Woo Bin had told him. He knew about Wild Powers but he had no idea how to tell someone they were one. So he put on his brave face and looked her dead in the eye.

"They were after you because you're what is known as a Wild Power."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I usually wait until I get a review because sometimes I don't know what's going to happen next. I get a lot of inspiration from reading the comments. Then there are times when I just get going and can't stop. This is one where I have to figure out what I want to do with it.

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Baye stuck her toes in Tim's fur and wiggled them around. What had he just said? She understood the part of about Darklings and Guardians, but the crap was a Wild Power and why was she designated as one?

She had made the point of never getting involved with her mother's lifestyle because it hadn't interested her, but her mother had dragged her along to many of her meetings. She knew the inner workings of a Guardian group. She knew how the operated and how many were in leadership positions. She knew by default that Jun Pyo was the leader here.

But this was the first time she had seen so many leaders in one group. It was obvious that F4 as they were called were in charge but ultimately it was Goo Jun Pyo who made the final decision. Had he told them to protect her? Who made it Jeongmin's position to follow her?

Jeongmin watched as her mind raced. She was intelligent but she didn't know how to hide what she was thinking. She had pulled her bottom lip into her mouth as she worried her foot in the monster dog's fur. She really hadn't heard anything about Wild Powers while she lived with her mother.

"I have racked my brain, but I haven't come with anything. What is a Wild Power?" she asked. She was taking it really well.

"I don't know much about it, but from what Jun Pyo and Shinhwa Group told us there are only four born every five hundred years. The Guardians and Darklings rush around the world to find them because they're not just born in Korea. The Darklings have the ability to steal a Wild Power's power and use it as their own. It makes the Guardians' jobs that much harder," he explained.

She held the cup to her lips as she let it sink in. "So how many are left?"

Jeongmin looked down into his cup. This wasn't the news he wanted to tell her but things were really progressing too quickly. She had the right to know.

He looked at her. She was watching her feet as she waited for him to answer her. He didn't think she was daft, but she wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. She didn't know that he was looking at her.

He wondered how long it would take for the others to track down the others that had caused them to run. He wanted to leave because if he stayed in the house with her for too long his mind was going to wander. Since he had met her and concluded that she wasn't going to back down from his mouth, he had settled into bantering with her in and out of class. She was honest and witty and he enjoyed arguing with her.

If he wasn't careful, there was going to be an even bigger rumor about a teacher and student than was going around. Already some of the students were talking about how Baye was close to F4 and the kids that hung out with them. It would be even worse if she was suddenly connected with a student and people believed they were in a relationship while she taught him.

"Jeongmin?" she asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

He sighed as he realized he had to actually tell her the truth. "The other Wild Powers have been tortured and killed for their powers. We're still not sure how they were caught because those three knew how to use their powers."

"So I'm the only one left." She said it with an airy sigh. She was resigning herself to the fact that this was real. "How long will you have to protect me?"

"I'm not sure. We're the largest Guardian Group in Asia. We have nearly two thousand men and women in our group so we should be able to do this, but I don't know how they're beating us to you guys."

"Is there any way you can predict when and where the four people will be born?"

Joengmin shook his head. "No, because it's random no matter what we do. This time around in September of 1984, four children were born on the same day at the same time on the same day. That's the only thing the children have in common. We can't plan that even if we tried."

"We won't be alive to see it." He shook his head, feeling horrible for telling her. "I have an idea though."

He turned to look at her. "What is it?"

"Find a hidden space. It's easy to get lost in this area. They already know where we live. Find somewhere they don't know about and convert it into a temporary base of some sort. You can't watch me while we're all separated."

It made sense. As it was right now, they were all separated into five different houses. The six younger ones lived together, and F4 had their own houses obviously. The largest one was Jun Pyo's but he didn't want to bring it home. Woo Bin would be next but his niece and nephew lived with them while his sister was overseas with her husband. Yi Jeong's house was filled with too many art pieces that were getting ready to go on sale and his girlfriend was a bit stingy with him when he was off work. Ji Hoo's place was too small for the eleven of them and two dogs. He looked at the giant beasts as they snored. They were so oblivious to the fact that there was trouble.

His phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out. A new message from Ji Hoo flashed across the screen.

 _/Don't leave the house tonight or tomorrow. We'll handle Baye's lectures and your classes. Don't set foot outside that front door./_

He stared at the phone long enough that she noticed something was up. She pulled his hand over so he could see what was so fascinating. She read the message then huffed at the screen, muttering something about idiot men and being bossy before getting up and going to the kitchen.

Jeongmin didn't know what he should do. Baye was going to be madder about being locked in the house than anything else. The only place she could go outside was in the back yard with her dogs. He was pretty certain those monsters wouldn't let anyone near her.

Irritated, Baye started pulling things out for a stew that would feed them for a couple meals. Potatoes, carrots, chicken, green peas, sugar snap peas, and tomatoes landed on the counter in a giant heap. She pulled out a large chopping knife and made short work of the vegetables. They were in the giant pot within a few minutes.

Jeongmin was left watching woman as she set about doing random chores. She vacuumed which was pointless because of the furry behemoths lying in the floor. She scrubbed down the kitchen and dusted the rest of the furniture. Then she started on the laundry. She was trying not to be agitated, but it wasn't working out so well.

"Why! Why do I have to listen to the four of them? It's not like they have done anything worthwhile. They could have told me what was going on. They could have been completely honest. They could have said something but no! They kept their mouths shut!"

He knew the danger before it even registered, and he was up out of his seat before he even realized it. The multicolor spark was dancing in her eyes again. She was that angry.

He grabbed one wrist and pulled it across her body as he slid behind her and grabbed the other. When he had her in an effective restraining hold, he pressed his temple to the back of her head and waited. But he knew he couldn't hold her for long. An unchecked Wild Power was really dangerous.

"You need to listen to me. If you don't rein in your temper, you're going to burn the house down and kill me and the dogs. I know you don't care too much about me, but your furry beasts depend on you," he appealed.

It took a moment, but she started calming down. Her hands shook in his and they burned him a little. Most Wild Power's effectiveness came from their hands. By restraining hers, he had stopped her fire but had gotten burned in the process. The electricity he could generate would cauterize any open wound that he held, but he couldn't do that unless his hands were free.

Baye tugged at her hands and he let them go. She didn't step away from him though. Instead she turned and looked up at him. He met her eyes steadily and watched the blue flame dance in the darkness. She tilted her head slightly and looked at him.

He lowered his head slightly and his eyes fluttered between her eyes and mouth. She didn't move like he thought she would. He needed her to say no because if she didn't, he wasn't going to be responsible for what he did.

"Let me see your hands," she said barely above a whisper. Completely off guard, he did what she asked. She flipped them over and inspected them. "They're not terribly burned, just slightly blistered. If you take care of them, they shouldn't get infected."

She smiled up at him and he knew it was all over. Anyone who got close to her without proper reasoning wouldn't like the outcome.

He grabbed her wrist as she started to turn away. She looked up at him again with an open expression. He pulled her towards him until her feet were wedged in between his.

"Jeongmin," she said.

"From now on, don't move without me knowing. Don't leave your house, your classes, your office or campus without me knowing. If something happened to you, if the Darklings get their hands on you, it's all over. And I'm not going to call you Professor Lee anymore, Noona," he said.

"You can't demand that from me," she argued the flame rising in her eyes again.

He tightened his hand and pulled her a little closer. "You can't control your power. They know when you use it. It's like a beacon to them. If you want to stay safe, listen to what I say. Because if something happens to you, it will be on my head that the blame is placed."

"I'm your teacher."

"No, not in this house or any safe house. You are not a teacher. You are a powerful woman, and you're a friend. You don't have to be anything else outside of the school. You don't have to use honorifics or bow down to anyone. You are the highest power in the Guardians. We have to listen to you. It's part of our nature."

"Then why are you bossing me around?"

He stalled at the question. He knew the answer, but there was a possibility that she wouldn't accept it. The last girlfriend he'd had, had broken up with him when they had started college. She had said that his mouth and temper had been too bad and that she hadn't wanted to stay with him until he had learned to control it. Since that day, he hadn't had any other experience with a woman until now.

But Baye wasn't a normal woman. First she had been his teacher, but since he had abolished that, she was just a woman who was the last Wild Power alive. He had an obligation to protect her, but doing so meant he had to be close to her. And she literally set every hormone in his twenty-one year old body on fire, literally and figuratively.

"Answer me," she urged.

"You are the most precious thing we have. We have to protect you. That means I am, and everyone else, is going to boss you around. Get used to it."

"Do you always fight with your superiors?"

"When I know I'm right, yes. Now go check on the stew. It may be ready."

Baye watched him disappear down the hallway where the bathroom was. He was persistent and annoying, but he wasn't wrong. If she really was a Wild Power and she couldn't control it, she was a danger to everyone. If the Darklings got their hands on her, it didn't matter how tough she could be. They would torture and kill her for her power that she wasn't convinced she even had.

She went into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of bowls from the cabinet. The spoons were already in the drainer so she just pulled them along with a ladle. She was serving out the bowls when Jeongmin returned from the bathroom. He had bandaged his hands for the time being.

"Roscoe, Tim, out," she said. Tim was the first one out the door and he immediately started chasing a butterfly. Roscoe took his precious time. As soon as he was by the door, Baye kicked him in the butt with the inside of her foot. "Hurry up, slow poke." He turned to huff at her before his big butt went out the door. Once outside he laid on the wooden deck and watched Tim chase the butterfly.

"Does he always do that?" Jeongmin asked as he looked out the window over the sink.

"He's not the brightest bulb, but he enjoys those butterflies. They get the better of him though. Then he changes to birds. He caught one once, but he didn't hurt it." She settled herself on the barstool. "Sit down and eat before it gets cold."

He had already ticked her off and had nearly paid the price for it. He sat down like she had asked and started to eat, not really surprised that the stew tasted really good. He was slowly learning that she could do just about anything she wanted. And that was really dangerous for him. In the end one of them was going to get killed if he couldn't control himself.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I sometimes don't know if I should listen to music or watch a drama when I write. Sometimes I do both. I get bored so easily and have to do things to ease my boredom. But you don't know how hard it is to write when you have five mini heathens running around your bed.

Also my computer finally called it quits. I can't upload on it so I have to steal my dad's and upload, or upload at work.

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Baye didn't mind being at home when it was her choice. Usually she would read or do a word search or a puzzle. But this sitting at home on an order that wasn't from her doctor was kind of annoying. Not that it mattered anyway. She was usually alone but this time around she had company that wasn't huge and furry. No, he was huge and full of ego.

Jeongmin lounged on the sectional with his feet propped up on the arm rest with an English book propped open on his knees. He was twisting his necklace around his fingers then putting the chain in his mouth. He was so interested in his book he seemed to forget where he was. It showed how comfortable in this house he was.

She watched him as he turned the page. He didn't seem to care that he was in another person's house. He was peaceful as he lounged there. She had never been that peaceful in her house because she had never known what or when her mother would need something or her. They had eventually trained Roscoe and Tim to do the running of the small things such as the remote, a pair of scissors, or to open the fridge door. They had drawn the line at toilet paper and paper towels because they didn't want them soggy.

Being home alone meant she could do something worthwhile. But this time around she was stuck in her house due to some stupid people who couldn't be content with what they had. But it did give her some time to think a few things over, especially whether or not she wanted to stay in Korea. At the moment her answer was no.

She sat down at the piano with her phone and ear buds. Turning the music on low so she could hear both, she started playing what came from the phone. She couldn't read music so she used the headphones to help her hear the notes. It was an easy and gentle way for her to get her frustrations out.

Jeongmin turned when he heard the gentle piano come to life. He saw Baye sitting at the instrument with a contented look about her. She didn't move too much. The only he knew she was playing was the slight roll of her shoulders as she shifted from each set.

He hadn't heard that piece since high school when Donghyun played it for their recital. He had worked so hard on it and had been so proud but after he had played, he hadn't played the song since. It brought back so many memories of the two of them playing together when Donghyun was supposed to be practicing. That had been one of the best parts of senior year.

He watched a different color flame dance in her eyes. It was slow and seductive as she watched the keys. It churned slowly as the melody was slow, but as soon as the tempo picked up so did the dancing. He had never seen it before. Youngmin surely didn't have it. He had never had flames in his eyes before or after making music. The older twin just played with enough heat to start a fire.

But this was different. This was passion that was set deep down in the soul. Baye may not know how to control her power when she lost her temper, but she knew how to control the music. Maybe that was the key to it all. Maybe if they used music when trying to help her calm down when she lost her temper.

She rolled right into the next song that came through her headphones. He recognized it as a piece by Beethoven, but there were so many pieces by Beethoven that he couldn't name the one. It didn't matter because once again it was beautifully played. He didn't know where she had learned music but he could tell she really enjoyed it.

He watched her get up when the song obviously changed. He didn't know what she was doing as she wandered into Ji Hoo's room. She returned with his violin case. He was about to say something about Ji Hoo not liking anyone to mess with it when she pulled the bow across the strings. The most lonesome sound rang out through the room. He sat up and watched as she swayed to the tune.

The door opened behind him and he looked up into Ji Hoo's face. The older man looked content. Usually he was a bit stingy about who played his violin, but he didn't seem to mind that his roommate had it.

"You knew she could play?" Jeongmin asked.

Ji Hoo sank into the plush recliner and watched for a moment. "Yi Jeong said she was a music major before she became an English teacher. He said she has been classical music since she was four. From what I understand she can't read music so she uses the headphones to hear how it should go."

"Is there anything she can't do?"

The older man had to think about it. Jeongmin knew he didn't know much about his roommate, but he knew enough that he could mutter random things at times like this. He had known that she could play but like everything else he knew, it had to be wrung out of him like water from a rag. It was really annoying sometimes. It was like beating a dead horse. Only Donghyun was worse than Ji Hoo and not by much. They were like two peas in a pod.

Baye's song ended and she stared at a spot on the floor for a long, long minute. She looked like a statue. Slowly, her arms fell to her side and she turned to put the instrument back in its case. She turned to the front of the room and a shy smile graced her face.

"I didn't know you were there, Oppa," she said.

"I just got here. Were you so bored you broke into my room?" he asked as he stood and walked over to take the case from her.

"At least I didn't let Roscoe or Tim in. Last time you complained about the dog hair."

"I swear if you shaved them you would have enough fur for yarn that would make eight sweaters."

"I'm not shaving my dogs."

An anger he had never felt before swelled up in Jeongmin's chest. He didn't want anyone, even her close friends, acting that way towards her. But he knew the moment he brought it up, she was get angry at him and he didn't know how to curb her anger just yet.

"Get the monster and behemoth on a leash," Ji Hoo said.

Baye frowned at him. "Why?'

"We're going to a safe house. I know you won't want to leave your beasts here so get their stuff ready. They'll go with us."

She made a face at him then turned to Jeongmin. "Will you help me?"

Ji Hoo watched as Jeongmin hopped up and went with the woman down the hallway. They left the door open even though they technically didn't need to. The look Jeongmin gave Baye when she wasn't looking said everything. He had gone from a nagging student to a nagging significant other. Baye hadn't realized it yet or she would have forcefully put an end to it.

From the stories they had heard, every female Wild Power had possessed two things: exorbitant amounts of power and beauty that made every woman jealous. Baye had the latter but the former had yet to be seen. There hadn't been a Wild Fire in nearly fifteen hundred years and from what records said, the last one had only been able to use one color. Just from watching Baye play the piano and violin, he had seen two different colors erupting in her eyes. How many more did she have? Could she have the Elemental Wild Fire power that was so lucid it hadn't been seen in two millennium.

It didn't take long for a fight to break out. Jeongmin didn't want to carry the two dog beds and Baye didn't want to leave them. Their yelling filled the whole house. Ji Hoo stood in the kitchen shaking his head as a small smile played across his face. The only person she had legitimately fought with on a regular basis was Yi Jeong. The normally laid back potter was often riled by the woman. There weren't any romantic feelings between them but Baye tended to find that one chink in the man's armor.

"You can't take that too!" Jeongmin's viice was clear and angry.

Ji Hoo pushed off the counter and went to find out what was going on. When he peeked around room, Baye was sitting in the floor looking up at Jeongmin. They were glaring at each other.

"They're dog bowls. They kind of need them," she said.

Jeongmin made a face as he tossed his hands up. "Between you and the behemoths, we're going to need a moving van."

Baye's foot suddenly lashed out and she kicked him right in the shin. Ji Hoo could barely hold the laugh that bubbled over. Jeongmin looked ready to explode. He huffed out an angry breath and fisted his hands at his sides.

She got up and walked past him with the dog bowls. Ji Hoo stepped out of the doorway to let her pass. Jeongmin angrily picked up the blankets from the floor and folded them before carrying them out in the living room. Ji Hoo grabbed the duffle bag from Baye's bed and carried it into the living room.

The two furry creatures were already in the living room with their harnesses and leashes on. Tim sat at Baye's feet with his tail thumping against the floor. Roscoe was spread out in front of the door. Ji Hoo noticed the angry glances his friends were casting each other, but more importantly was the look on both of their faces as they argued. It seemed they were really annoyed that they were annoyed.

Ji Hoo took the three bags out to the car and put them in the trunk along with the dog's supplies. Baye really hadn't packed too much but because of the sheer size of the Saint Bernard's, it looked like there was more. After flipping off the main house lights and turning on the porch lights, the three humans and two dogs piled in the car.

Jeongmin turned around in the front seat to check on the three passengers in the back. Roscoe and Tim sat patiently on either side of their owner. Baye leaned against Roscoe as she rubbed Tim's ears. Roscoe turned his head and snorted in her hair. She poked him then settled against him again as the continued down the road.

"Where are we going?" he asked when he turned back around.

"The bunker. It's the safest place for all of us. Jun Pyo's mother seems to think that we can train her until she has some semblance of control," Ji Hoo answered.

"What if we can't?"

"The only I can think of is they will restrain her, but I'm not one hundred percent if she knows what she can do. I have my suspicions but without proper evidence I can't do anything." Ji Hoo glanced in the rearview mirror before he changed lanes. "You told her everything you knew didn't you?"

Jeongmin crossed his arms and settled into his seat. "I had to. She asked the question and it felt wrong to keep it from her. She won't lie to us, so why should we lie to her?"

The older man glanced at the younger. "You feel even more protective towards her than the rest of us don't you?" When he didn't get an answer, he rested his left elbow on the window and propped his head on it. "You need to be careful. Things can get out of hand really quickly if they find out a student and teacher are dating."

"I don't plan to let that happen."

"It doesn't matter what you plan. One little rumor can end her career. You've already gotten a reputation as a teacher snapper. Baye has nothing against her, but if someone says one little thing about the two of you and it's enough to cause speculation, Baye can lose her job. It won't matter that you appeal it. It will be a mark against her."

"You say that like you can see what's going on between us."

"I can. There's something in the presence you exude that shows everything you feel. I'm not quite sure how to explain it."

"It could be in the aura she was talking about. It is how we tell each other apart."

"It could be."

They rode in silence for a little while. Jeonmin glanced back to see what Baye was doing. She and her dogs were asleep in the back seat. It looked like a giant puppy pile. She looked like she was wearing a furry boa since Roscoe's tail was wrapped around her neck.

"Did she sleep last night?" Ji Hoo asked as he took a right on a side road.

"I don't think so. I heard her moving around in her room last night," Jeongmin said. A building loomed ahead of them. "I keep forgetting that this is where the bunker is. Who puts it under a hotel?"

"It's the perfect place. Plumbing, food and regular housekeeping. Wake her up."

Jeongmin reached over the back seat and nudged Baye. Roscoe cracked one eye and growled at him. The man jerked his hand back quickly and the dog settled. Ji Hoo called a command and the animal huffed. Baye woke up and looked around. She sighed and stretched. Tim laid his head in her lap and looked up at her with big doe eyes.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"It's called the bunker. We'll all be living here together. Don't be surprised if you have to share a room," Ji Hoo explained. He parked the car and stepped out.

Baye didn't know what to think as she held Roscoe's leash and slid out. They were in an underground parking garage. Tim pressed his fluffy butt against her side as she followed Ji Hoo to the elevator. They were cramped seeing as Jeongmin brought everything too. He looked funny carrying dog supplies.

"Don't be surprised when you get down there," Ji Hoo said. "We're prepared for even the worst of cases."

She didn't like the way he spoke, but he wasn't going to change it. He didn't like scaring people but sometimes it was easier than sugarcoating things. She would rather have it told straight to her than being lied to.

The elevator went down what she supposed was three floors. Roscoe and Tim whined at the sudden change in air pressure and she rubbed their ears to cure the popping. She clenched her jaws to keep from the popping to hurt her ears as well. A hand landed on her ears and warmth spread through her head.

"It will pass once you become accustomed to it," Ji Hoo advised. She knew instinctively that he was using his healing power to shield her ears as they grew accustomed to the altitude change.

Jeongmin kind of glared at Ji Hoo as he touched Baye way too informally. He itched to remove the doctor's hands but his were way too full to do so. He didn't want anyone touching her but he couldn't do anything to stop her.

The doors opened and Baye couldn't stop the gasp. This wasn't a bunker. It was a city!


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Me and the computer have had a little talk. I promised I wouldn't run more than one thing, and it promised to work for me so I can finish this chapter.

But today has been awful. First it rained, then my head started to hurt. Then I took a six hour nap when I was supposed to go shopping with my friend for Halloween stuffs (we're doing Wizard of Oz this year). I feel bad but I didn't want to chance throwing up in the store.

But let's get back to the story!

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"So she's the Wild Fire you've been talking about?" President Kang said.

F4 stiffened and looked at each other. Only Jun Pyo's mother could be perceptive enough to know that Baye was the Wild Power. And the woman would want her hands in everything the younger woman did. Baye was in serious danger if President Kang decided that things weren't beneficial to her. She would never harm the woman, but she could make her life miserable.

Jeongmin pulled his lower lip into his mouth to keep from speaking out. This was one of the main reasons he hadn't wanted Baye anywhere near the president. The older woman didn't know when to back off. She pestered and pestered until someone broke. It was why all the teachers at the Shinhwa schools all had some sort of agreement with the chairmen of the schools. Baye didn't. She was under the full force of F4. It should mean she was protected, but it didn't. She was in the most danger because of it.

Baye wasn't too far away. Roscoe and Tim were making friends with Youngmin and Kwangmin and terrorizing Minwoo and Hyunseong. Donghyun sat beside and talked to her. He seemed to be a calming influence upon her. They were very calm whenever they were together. And it didn't make Jeongmin jealous in the least.

"We need to train her."

"We will try, Mother, but Baye is very wary about knowing what she can do. We've given her all the information. She knows what can happen if she uses her power, and that means she will be hunted even worse than she is now," Jun Pyo said. He laced his fingers together and sat back in his chair. "She's not someone we can control. We can only give her the tools, but it's her decision whether or not she stays with the Guardians or goes to the Darklings. We can't stop that."

"I don't think she will leave us any time soon," Ji Hoo stated. He turned his head to look at Jeongmin. There was significant meaning in the look alone.

"We can't keep her locked up either," Yi Jeong siad. "Baye won't stay. Once she's made her mind up to do something, she will do it. If she wants to go to the school to teach, she will. And you don't have a better English speaking teacher in the university."

"Then we'll just keep her here," another elder said.

"If you keep her here," Woo Bin said, "we all will stay with her. The ten of us will be wherever she is at any given momen. And there are only five people who can calm the wooly mammoths." Everyone looked at the two dogs running the length of the commo room as they chased Minwoo into a chair. "Those two are worse than we are too."

"Why did you bring them if they cause a ruckus?" someone further down the table asked.

"We didn't have a choice. Those dogs have been from New Zealand to Sweden and now here. They move with her wherever she goes," Yi Jeong said.

"Roscoe! Don't!"

Every head turnd at the command! Baye was up and moving after the blur of brown and white as the dog bounded after something. It turned out to be a cat. Baye launched herself on the dog's back and rolled, taking the three hundred pound dog with her. Dust flew everywhere as they settled. The woman came out on top, snout firmly in her hand. She flicked the animal once in the nose then tugged on his collar to pull him with her.

Jeongmin heard everyone gasp and popped up out of his seat. Everyone who was in tuned with their powers could see the fire wafting off the woman as she walked back. The earth roiled under her feet as sparks caught on the rock floor. Just by the looks of it, they could tell she was an Elemental Wild Fire, the first in a long time.

He cut her off and stared her right in the face. Green and silver fire danced in their depths. She tilted her head and looked at him, but he couldn't read the emotion. Turning his body slightly, he took her wrist and squeezed.

"You may not be able to see it, but everyone is looking at you. Take a deep breath. If you don't, they will use you as a guinea pig," he whispered.

The flames didn't disappear as she stared at him. He was so nervous that she wasn't going to respond to him. He stepped in closer and brushed his forehead against hers. It was the only way he knew she would react. She had before and he knew she would again.

He kept his stance until he felt her wrap her hand around his wrist and squeeze. After a moment she dropped her hand and passed him, their shoulders brushing. Out of the corner of his eye, Jeongmin saw Donghyun stand and the twins fall in behind her as she left the common area. The dogs obediently went with her, Roscoe's tail drooping a little.

Jeongmin sat between Yi Jeong and Ji Hoo again. The latter dropped a note into his lap that clearly said READ RIGHT NOW. Yi Jeong turned his shoulder to shield him. Unfolding the paper, Jeongmin read through it easily.

/That was a nice save, but you should be careful in how casually you touch her. Your aura went haywire./

He glanced at him but didn't otherwise comment. What would make his aura that everyone could see at any given time go crazy? Baye was nearly ten years older than him and his teacher. But then again he had told her that she wasn't his teacher when they were inside the house or away from school in general. He had already gotten angry at Ji Hoo for being so close to her but never at Donghyun even though both men weren't interested in her.

The meeting dispersed and Jeongmin went in search of the woman that everyone wanted to meet. She was sitting on the bed in Hyunseong and Minwoo's room as one of the owners tried to become friendly with the two wildebeests on the floor. To make his thoughts more prevalent, there was no reaction when he saw Baye leaning against Donghyun's shoulder.

Tim saw and bull rushed him, snuffling along his leg before his tongue lolled out of his mouth and his tail wagged. Jeongmin ruffled the dog's ears then went to join the other two on the bed. Baye looked at him briefly before she slipped off the bed and disappeared from the room. Tim whined and Roscoe only lifted his head then laid back down to enjoy the belly rub he was receiving from Hyunseong.

"She's still not fully back to normal," Donghyun replied as he watched his friend stare longingly at the door. "Her hands were shaking."

"You dulled the sound of the place didn't you?" Jeongmin asked.

Donghyun nodded. "It seemed to be the best solution. Every time someone spoke she cringed. I didn't want to see her suffer when I could have done something about it."

"It must be a side effect," Youngmin said as he and Tim played tug of war with a rope. "It's probably like my hands turn red or Kwangmin's turn blue when we use our powers way too much."

"That makes the most sense. If she is a an Elemental Wild Fire like we suspect, then her side effects would be so much different than the twins, Yi Jeong, Woo Bin, and Jun Pyo. The only side effect that I know about me is my body gets warm."

"It's because you have electrical currents running through you that heats up your blood stream," Ji Hoo said as he walked into the room. He threw his thumb over her shoulder, almost poking Yi Jeong in the eye. "Go to Baye. She disappeared in the room you guys share."

"What about the oxen?"

"We'll watch them. We can't chance Baye hurting them," Hyunseong said.

Jeongmin had a feeling that something was going on but he couldn't pinpoint it. He hopped off the bed and passed by his friends. Minwoo waved goodbye to him right before he disappeared around the corner.

"We have a question to ask you," Yi Jeong said as soon as he saw Jeongmin disappear around the bend in the hallway.

"Is it about the funky aura that surrounds the two of them?" Kwangmin asked. Everyone was suddenly at attention. Even the two Saint Bernards seemed to be listening.

"So you've seen it too?" Ji Hoo asked as he perched on the dresser by the door.

"It's kind of hard to miss when you see a bright white splotch in a normally solid yellow aura." Minwoo scratched his head as he thought a little more about it. "But Baye's aura is a mixture of colors including black and white so it's harder to tell."

"It's almost like it's a bruise," Hyunseong added.

Yi Jeong and Ji Hoo looked at each other. "You've seen that too?" the doctor asked.

The five younger men looked concerned. They glanced at each other. In all honesty they thought they had lost their minds when they had first seen Baye at school. They hadn't been able to really tell what her Wild Power was until Youngmin had felt it out and Yi Jeong had confirmed it, but now that they knew, they could easily see it. But they had always thought that her aura had been a little off.

"What do you mean seen it too?" Donghyun asked.

Ji Hoo pointed at Hyunseong. "You said it looked like a bruise. That only happens when someone has been attacked by another power and survived. If Baye accidentally attacked you and you somehow survived, your aura would be mottled. Almost like a bruise."

"She's been attacked?" Minwoo asked.

Yi Jeong nodded. "She was fifteen. Her mother protected her but she got some of the backlash. Now she has an ice scar on her left shoulder just inches above her heart."

Donghyun did the math in his head. "That would have been right around the time she would have been coming into her power. But she's a Wild Power so she wouldn't have known at the time." A light bulb flashed to life. "When were all the other Wild Powers captured this time around?"

"On their fifteenth birthdays. It was before their powers matured," Ji Hoo said.

Yi Jeong knew where the younger man was going and snatched it immediately. "They were after her at fifteen, but they encountered something much stronger than a Wild Power that day. The power of a mother's love can overturn anything. Miranda nearly paid the ultimate price to save Baye, and that's why she never told her she was a Wild Power. She didn't want her to panic."

As the other men were coming up with reasons and plans and backup plans, Jeongmin was arriving at his door. Never in his life had he expected to be in the Bunker. He had visited it on a few occasions as part of an evacuation plan, but he never thought he'd have to use it. Three thousand people could fit comfortably but it could house twice as many. There were only thirty-five hundred Guardians in Seoul, but if the five thousand members outside of the city needed safe haven, they could come. The thing spanned six blocks in any direction.

He thought about knocking but since it had been his designated room since moving to Seoul for middle school, he just walked in. Baye was standing across the room at the little kitchenette. He didn't know if she realized he was there or not, but he slowly crossed the room just in case. Just as he was about to get about arm's length away, she dropped a mug.

He caught it before it smashed on the floor and looked at her. Her lips slightly parted, she stared at him. He broke eye contact to look at her hands. Donghyun had been right. She was shaking. It was an after effect of using two different elements at once. She had used the wind as a burst speed and the earth had roiled to meet her temper. They were lucky they didn't use fire in the Bunker or they would have had a fire on their hands.

He took her hands in his and placed them palm to palm before rubbing his along the backs of them. She stared down at the floor between them for a long time. There was nothing he could say so he continued.

"What did I do?" she whispered.

"It's what your power demanded," he answered. She looked up at him. "There are times when we can't control what bursts out when our adrenaline rushes. There are even times when we have to let out the pressure that builds in our chests when we have expelled enough energy. Because you are so much more powerful than anyone here, you have to have regular expulsions. Whether you realize it or not when you were playing music at the house, you were expelling some of the pent up energy. It showed in your eyes as you used the air around you."

"But I can't do that down here."

"Yes you can. There's a music room down the hall. I'm sure Donghyun or Ji Hoo wouldn't mind working with you. Even I will. You can play violin while I accompany."

"Is there a trumpet here as well?"

Jeongmin had to keep his mouth from dropping. "How many instruments do you play?"

"Eight. Other than the piano, the piccolo, violin and trumpet are my favorites."

"What are the other four?"

She counted in her head. It was so much like something Donghyun did that it didn't even surprise him. "Piano, piccolo, violin, trumpet, flute, mandolin, gayageum, and whatever drum set is in front of me."

"You grew up in New Zealand. Why do you play a Korean instrument?"

"My dad taught me."

Well that made sense, but he wasn't going to bring anything else up. As they had spoken her tremors had eased. He dropped his hands and started to put them in his pockets when she suddenly hugged him. It rocked him to his heels but he recovered and held her. She was almost as tall as he was. Actually she was so she put her head by his ear.

Baye didn't know why she felt the urge to hug him. Maybe it was because he had calmed a raging fire in her. Maybe It was because he had risked his life to get her home then stay with her even at the risk of her dogs attacking him. She didn't know why but she knew that she had to hold him at least once. Something said that this wasn't going to be the end. They may be safe in a bunker for the time being, but it wasn't going to last.

"It's kind of uncomfortable standing here," he said after few moments. He laughed when she suddenly pulled away. "Well, I didn't mean you should do that either."

"I'm suddenly tired," she answered.

Jeongmin took her hand and led her over to one of the beds on the far side of the room. She sat down and he kneeled to take off her shoes. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep. She had literally passed out after using Wild Fire.

He covered her up and pulled up a chair by the bed. He knew she wasn't going to be too happy if she woke up alone. She clinched her hands as she slept. Her mass of black hair fanned out on the white pillow under her head.

It was then that Jeongmin knew that he was going to have a hard time explaining to his other professors why he was hanging around his English teacher. Rumors were going to fly as soon as he returned because of the way they had left three days ago.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I started this chapter last night and had no idea where it was going to go. Then I had a dream where all this happened. So this chapter came out of that. But then again, I had no idea the backstories of most of my characters until I start writing. You will find out a little bit of one of the characters.

As for me, I was a little lazy this morning as I wrote this. My puppies all want to be in bed with me when I work, and little Max wouldn't get in arm's reach so I could pull him up. So I left him in the floor with Butch. He wasn't too happy, but I didn't want to lean down and mess up this chapter. He's not very happy with me but the baby hasn't learned that there is a step down at the end of the bed where he can get on it.

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A large crowd had gathered. Kwangmin and Minwoo were late to everything and this was included. Minwoo tried to jump to see over everyone but he was just a little too short. Kwangmin had no issues looking over people's heads to find his brother and friends. When he found them, he grabbed Minwoo by the arm and led him through the people.

When they reached the front of the crowd, their focus was shifted to the people in front of them. Donghyun was playing the piano with a gentle look on his face. He looked peaceful as his eyes danced with a white flare to them. But the woman beside him was the one who had stolen the show.

Jeongmin had told them that Baye knew how to play instruments but they had never realized that she was good. She stood by Donghyun and the piano with an air that said she shouldn't be touched. Ji Hoo, Yi Jeong and Woo Bin had cordoned off the largest instrument in the room to give the musicians space and sat in key positions to stop anyone. Jeongmin should have been with them but he was in Baye's line of sight.

The music was calming. The bow didn't make a whining sound as it was drug across the strings. It was a smooth, lilting tune that made everyone present stop what they were doing and pay attention. The piano accompaniment only boosted the atmosphere the violin created.

But it was the woman behind the violin that held everyone's attention. Baye was poised but at the same time she was completely relaxed. She let the music take her wherever it willed. Some violinist's faces were so serious the crowd couldn't tell if they were truly enjoying the music, but this woman was completely different. She flowed with ease as she changed completely in front of everywhere.

On the other side of the crowd, Baye and Donghyun were one. She glanced at him and he smiled in return. All she had to do was change the tempo and he picked up instantly, playing the accompaniment for whatever song she had switched to. But most importantly she was at peace for the first time since she had started teaching at Shinhwa University.

Music had always brought out the best in her. She had been around it all her life and it was a calming influence on her. She had worked hard to bring home an instrument that her mother would enjoy listening to at night. So far the piccolo, violin, and piano were the leaders. So she had worked so hard to perfect them. Had she known at the time that it had been her power release, she would have done even better.

An idea popped into her head. She had known that once she and Donghyun had started playing they would draw a crowd. She had brought Roscoe and Tim with her because they were always her calming influence. Once she finished the slower classical piece she was going to jump into a faster one. She glanced at Donghyun and he somehow understood.

When the song ended, she whistled and the two dogs popped up. She gave two short whistles as warnings before she started with the more upbeat song. She gave it a few measures so the dogs would situate themselves beside her. Then she stepped to the side. As if they were one entity, the two dogs moved with her. They did a two-step dance – cross right, cross left, spin and repeat. Baye would jump over one of them then they would repeat the sequence again.

When it came to the middle of the song where the tempo became fast and stopped, faster and stopped the animals followed along. They were an even bigger hit than the two musicians. They looked up at Baye with big, love filled eyes as their tails wagged in happiness.

As soon as the song finished, Baye sat down and gave her two furry children huge hugs and ear rubs. Tim rolled onto his back demanding a belly rub as the people assembled clapped. Donghyun sank down beside them and smiled before he rubbed Roscoe's ears.

Jeongmin had never seen her so happy. Since he had met her, there had been fights and arguments and running away from teachers but he had never seen her truly happy. The smile on her face was infectious as the dogs seemed happy too.

A few people lingered as they wanted to talk to her but the men she was usually with closed in around her. They helped her leash the dancing fur balls and put the instruments back in order of how they found them. Yi Jeong and Woo Bin talked her ear off as they helped Donghyun push the piano back into its original position. Ji Hoo simply and carefully put the violin back in its case then sat by the dogs patiently. The twins, Hyunseong and Minwoo started to pick her brain.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jeongmin saw movement. Then a man he had never seen before slipped around the corner. As he looked closer he realized it was the professor that had tried to ask Baye out at the university. The last time he had checked there weren't any other Guardian professors except F4 and two in the physical education department. He slipped into his aura and tried to read the other man's but he was instantly knocked out.

So he called for aid. Ji Hoo was the only one who could pierce through anyone's defenses and see their aura because of his healing. The older man looked at him and he motioned to the newcomer. It took less than ten seconds for Ji Hoo to figure out what was going on. He was on his feet instantly and Jeongmin was moving to the cordoned off section. He snatched one of the leashes and grabbed Baye by the elbow. She looked up at him but he shook his head, demanding her to be quiet as his friends crowded round and F3 took the lead.

"What can I do for you, Dr. Chan?" Woo Bin asked pleasantly. Ever changing as the water he had mastered, he could be nice one minute then kick your butt in the next. He was in charge of training all of the younger Guardians in hand-to-hand combat. He wasn't easy.

"I wanted to ask Professor Lee where she learned to play like that. How did she teach her dogs to dance like that?" the professor continued.

Donghyun leaned close to Jeongmin. "As much as he tries to sound it, he is not sincere. Watch him."

Taking Donghyun's warning to heart, Jeongmin turned to face Baye. His hand slid down her arm and right into hers. She looked at him again. This time it was full of understanding and honesty. She wasn't in the least bit scared but she had a firm grasp on her power. Nothing was showing in her eyes.

"If you don't have a pass you can't be here." Yi Jeong and the rest of F3 were still talking to the professor.

For some reason right at that moment, Jeongmin had a burst of funny. He tried to hold back his laughter and it came out in coughing bursts. This whole scenario reminded him of the X-Men for some reason. Except instead of one professor leading them, they had four.

Baye clenched Jeongmin's hand in warning. She had no idea why he was having a laughing fit but now wasn't the time for it. She couldn't explain it, but something was completely off with Dr. Chan. He looked really peaceful on the surface but deep down something was wrong with him. The smile that he put on for the world was corrupted and sick.

But if she explained it to the others, would they listen? Her mother hadn't when she had told her that the Guardian that had been part of their group was the same way, and then he had attacked them. Baye didn't make up farfetched stories. She couldn't even if she tried but no one believed her anyways.

"What is it?" Hyunseong asked on the other side. They had made a five pointed star around her and Jeongmin and he was on her immediate left with Tim between them.

She had to tell someone. "He looks sick, like his face is pallid and his hands shake."

The younger man tilted his head and looked at the other teacher. He watched him closely as he talked to F3. Baye didn't know what meant but she didn't want any part of it. She tugged on Jeongmin's hand to leave but he held fast.

"If you run now, he will know you're scared," Hyunseong muttered.

As if on cue, Roscoe and Tim lowered their heads and growled. Even if Baye couldn't sense danger, those two could. And they sensed it right then. Yi Jeong cut his eyes back to them as Dr. Chan looked over.

"What beautiful dogs! Saint Bernards are hard to come by here in Korea! May I?" He reached for Tim even before anyone could say yes or no, but Tim had other ideas. He snarled and snapped at the man's hand before he tried to launch himself at the other man. The normally gentle giant hated him. "He's a monster."

"He protects his master," Ji Hoo said. "Now can we ask you nicely to leave before things get even more out of hand and one of them actually attacks you?"

"Baye," Dr. Chan dropped honorifics altogether, "I came here to ask if you were all right and if you wanted to leave with me. I saw them drag you out the other day and it looked like you were going against your will. I can take you back now without pressing charges."

The charges wouldn't stick because every chief of police was a Guardian. He could sure try but it would be futile.

"Are you trying to get her away from us or ask her out?" Woo Bin asked, inching backwards ever so slightly.

"Both. She's been alone since she got here. I just wanted to give her a proper time as a coworker and a date."

"She's already taken." Jeongmin didn't know what possessed him to say those words, but they flowed out before he could stop them. Baye jerked on his hand and his friends looked at him. "We didn't want to broadcast it early since she is a teacher and I am a student, but we have been casually dating since she got here. It could be why my attitude towards her is so completely different than those towards previous teachers."

Chan turned an even sicker shade of white and Baye turned into Jeongmin's shoulder. Even with the new knowledge, the man against them was showing new pieces of his personality. He didn't care that they were teacher student. He was mad that he hadn't gotten there first.

Youngmin grabbed her shoulder and she looked up. There was a bright red flame burning in his eyes. He was showing her that he understood everything that was going on and was ready to do whatever he needed to make sure they were safe. She shook her head because they still didn't know what the man across from them could do.

"That is against the bylaws of our university. You can be fired for fornicating with a student," Dr. Chan said.

"Do you even know what the definition of fornicating is?" Ji Hoo asked. "It's sex outside of marriage. Now I'm pretty sure the two of them haven't done that since they have always been with someone since they met. Unless they snuck off to do something that we don't know about."

Baye closed her eyes and buried her face in Jeongmin's shoulder. This was getting worse and worse as they continued speaking. First it had been about Dr. Chan's ability to get into the Bunker, then it had gone to Baye dating the man, and now they were talking about her sexual experience with Jeongmin. If she said it couldn't get any worse, it was going to.

"All right," Dr. Chan said. That made her wary. "Show me. Show me all the marks he has left on you."

A hand grabbed the man by the back of the neck and he went flying five feet backwards. Jun Pyo joined the ranks of those protecting the Wild Power. His mother stood beside him every bit as impressive as her son.

"What goes on between a couple is none of your business. Mr. Lee, please escort Dr. Chan out of here and make sure he gets all of his things from his office at the university. As of this moment, he is out of a job," President Kang said.

The hulking bodyguard that followed the president around grabbed Chan in the same neck grab Jun Pyo had used and hauled the man from their presence. F4 closed the ranks and looked at Baye. She refused to meet their eyes, but Donghyun ran a hand over her exposed ear to dull the noise that had suddenly cropped up.

"What are you going, young man?" Kang Hee Soo asked Jeongmin. "You just publicly claimed that a professor is your lover in front of hundreds of adults and students. In the process you have embarrassed her."

Jeongmin dropped Baye's hand and wrapped his arm around her waist. He kept one ear pressed to his shoulder so she wouldn't hear everything else around them. "I wasn't joking when I said it."

"President Kang," Ji Hoo said, "I think we may have our first case of True Force."

Kwangmin wrinkled his nose. "What is that?"

"It's where one power force calls to another and they form a tight bond. By doing so, it changes the auras of both people. It can also lead to romance and possibly marriage down the line. It's impossible to break except by death," Yi Jeong explained.

Donghyun started laughing. "Jeongmin, only you would have this happen to you. You couldn't keep a girlfriend during high school and now you've been pulled into something with a woman who should be way out of your league."

"You know you may be the oldest, but you're really annoying right now," Jeongmin bickered back.

"Baye," Ji Hoo turned the attention back on the topic at hand. He got her attention by pushing at her hair. "It's all your choice. True Force can't take place if you don't agree. And since you're a Wild Power, we have to be doubly sure it's what you want. If it's not, we should reevaluate this situation. But if it is, we will have to protect Jeongmin as well because once they know that True Force is in effect, the Darklings will go after him to get to you."

Baye gripped Tim's leash tightly and wound it and unwound it around her hand. If things went wrong she was responsible for Jeongmin's death or whatever they would do to him. They had already said the Darklings had killed the other three Wild Powers. What would they do to those who protected them? Everyone in this Bunker was risking their lives to protect hers. Could she watch them die?

Donghyun tilted his head as he watched emotions he had experienced play across her face. He couldn't stand it so he tapped Jeongmin on the shoulder. "Do you mind if I take control of her for right now?"

Instantly Jeongmin dropped his arm and took the other leash from the woman. "What are you going to do?"

"I won't hurt her. I just want to take her away from everyone. I'll take Hyunseong with us as extra protection. We won't leave the Bunker." He held out his hand. "Noona, would you come with me for a bit?"

Baye stared at the hand then up at the gentle face of the man who offered. Without a word, she slid her hand into his and allowed him to lead her away from the other group. Hyunseong fell into step beside them. She didn't know where he was taking her, but she felt the pressure lift from her chest.

"Is he going to show her his family history?" Youngmin asked.

"Probably. Unlike the rest of us, Donghyun was brought in because his parents were killed by Darklings. We asked the rest of you to join us, but Donghyun was forced to come to us so we could watch out for him. He's probably going to use that knowledge to help her understand that no matter what happens, it's not her fault," Jun Pyo said.

They had all known that Donghyun's parents had been killed, leaving behind him and a younger sister that was away at boarding school in the states. Shinhwa had sent her away because she was a normal human and their parents' death had been hardest on her. She didn't want to talk to Donghyun just yet. If anyone could get through to her about it, it was Donghyun.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: My dad laughed at me all day. I have been singing the same lines from GOT7's Just Right all day. He asked if that was the only part of the song I knew. I was like no, but it's the only part besides the opening and closing raps that I know off the top of my head at the moment. Shall I sing the chorus? He apparently doesn't like the way I sing GOT7.

Also I am using some other names for my bad guys in this story. I don't want to tell you up here so you'll have to wait and read it in the actual story. But they are names of the guys in another Kpop group. And no. It's not my beloved Super Junior or GOT7.

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Baye and Donghyun sat in the commissary with lunch in front of them. He was such an intelligent man that she hadn't not thought second about going with him. He had ordered her lunch for her out of the blue, but it was stuff she could eat.

He had become close to her quickly. He was a calm man and that showed whenever he spoke. F4 was the leaders of this group, but Donghyun was the leader of the younger kids. They deferred to him instantly and didn't question his orders. It was the reason Jeongmin hadn't argued when he asked to lead her away.

"Donghyun," she whispered. He looked up and smiled gently at her. "I heard something about your family."

"It's true. My parents were killed about eight years ago by Darklings. My sister and I were left alone. Shinhwa took us in to see if my sister was one of us. She wasn't and she hated this place. So they made an agreement that she would go to America and study but she would never speak of the Guardians or Darklings. So far she hasn't, but even though she doesn't like our people, she will go to them if trouble arises," he explained.

He looked at her again. There was a blue fire burning in her eyes. "Noona, I'm not sad about it. Dae Lin doesn't call home often, but when she does we talk for hours. She's still young and doesn't understand much of it. I don't hold it against her. I still love her no matter what, and I will protect her even if she hates me."

"I don't know what I would do if my brother hated us," she said.

"Noona," he took her hand over the table, "you need to be careful. You're shaking the glass."

Baye looked at his glass of water. Sure enough the glass was shaking and the water was rippling. It surprised her. First the air then the ground and now the water. She looked up at him and he smiled gently.

He held her hand until the glass stopped. When he pulled back, he could see her hands were shaking. He closed his eyes and settled into the sound. Throwing it out, he enclosed them in a bubble of silence. He knew sound would just make it worse so he wanted to ease her side affect.

"How can you live alone?" She asked.

"I'm not alone. I have my five brothers. Even if I leave Shinhwa, I know they will not abandon me. That's comforting," he answered. He smiled at her. "You never had that did you?"

Shaking her head, Baye sat back in her chair. "No. After my mom was attacked, the Guardians cut me off. My brother was already married and his wife was scared. I had nowhere to go. My mom tried to make it simple in me but thee was only so much she could do. Then I found music and became easier."

"Well you have more brothers now. If you need help, turn to us. We will do whatever we can to help."

Baye felt nervous but content. Having people to rely on was a little different than what she was used to. She could do it all by herself but if they were willing to help, why would she? Yi Jeong had already taken care of her in college and now, now.

"Is Jeongmin going to be a thorn in my side?" she asked.

Donghyun laughed. "Oh yes. He's made public that he likes you. He will be everywhere you are when he can. He will be stuck to you like glue and be a boomerang if you give him away. I've never seen him like this but I think it's funny."

Baye gay him a droll stare. "I hate you right now. "

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Jeongmin wanted to know what was going on in the little bubble but Donghyun had done that for a reason. He wasn't going to ask permission to do what he thought best. It was the reason he was their leader. Though he was goofy like the younger ones, he didn't apologize for making decisions that benefitted them. This was one of them.

His easy temper made it easy for him to talk to Baye. He could listen well and hit the heart of any situation. He was very intuitive and it benefitted everyone around him.

But he was also a little lonelier than the others. They all had family who fully supported them. He didn't. It was evident when the younger ones went home for a bit. Jeongmin had started taking him home with him even though his family was large. His parents made Donghyun feel at home when he was with them.

Someone clapped him on the shoulder and he turned around to see Jun Pyo. The Shinhwa heir didn't touch people so for him to do so meant he had something to say.

"You need be sure this is what you want to do," he said. "If that man was a Darkling envoy, he will go back and tell he others your declaration. They will target you first."

"Can they beat True Force?" Jeongmin asked.

"Not if you solidify it, but that requires sleeping together on three separate occasions." The younger man looked over at him. "Yes, it means you have to have sex with the woman. But that can be dangerous for you because the nature of her Wild Power. You've already done the first step. You claimed her, but without power to solidify that there's really no point in it."

"She won't let me do that. Even if I did say that we're together in front of another professor, she won't let me sleep with her."

"Therein lies the problem. Nowhere in the history of the Guardians has it said that two people can calm a Wild Power, but you and Donghyun can. I suspect every one of you can, but I'm not sure how."

"Are we going to train her?"

Jun Pyo shook his head. "No. It's too dangerous. We still don't know if Dr. Chan was a Darkling or not and we don't want to take the chance of them actually finding us. She'll have to manage somehow. You'll have to help her."

Jeongmin watched him disappear out of the door and turned back to the two people who were still chatting. Baye wasn't someone's play toy. She wasn't going to be turned into some sort of weapon. They were going to protect her, but how did they go about it when they had to go back to class the nest day?

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Baye had a horrible headache. It had started in her left temple early that morning and had migrated to her right side over the course of the day. Medication and caffeine hadn't helped in the slightest. She just wanted to die but couldn't because of the next two classes. They were reading T.S. Eliot's An Opossum's Tale of Extraordinary Cats, one of her favorite works by the British author. She didn't want to miss a day of listening to the students talk in English about their experiences.

Her early afternoon class was the one where Kwangmin and Hyunseong sat on the back row. She'd already had Donghyun and Jeongmin and they hadn't caught on that anything was wrong. She was just going to have to suffer.

But Kwangmin was perceptive. He took one look at Baye and knew something was wrong. She had come to work with Yi Jeong at about seven so she could grade a few papers she had missed. She hadn't said anything when she left but she must have felt horrible wen at home.

He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Jeongmin. If anyone should know it was him. He was going to have a fit when he found out she hadn't told him that she wasn't feeling good.

Class went by without a hitch, but by the time the last student passed through the door, she thought she was going to pass out.

She put her hand on the table, or what she thought was the table. She met air and starting falling. She was certain she was going to hit the floor but two strong arms caught her.

"Are you okay?" That was Woo Bin's voice.

"I'm fine," she said as she tried to push away from him. Her knees buckled, forcing him to catch her again.

Woo Bin laughed slightly. "Tell that to some who isn't holding you upright." He felt her forehead and sighed. "You don't have a fever. What's going on?"

"I just have a splitting headache." She looked up at him. "How did you know?"

"Kwangmin texted Jeongmin who texted me."

She huffed. "There are too many Min's: Jeongmin, Youngmin, Kwangmin, Minwoo. We just need to get rid of them to make it easier on me."

Woo Bin laughed as he gathered her stuff and escorted her from the room. "You still can't tell the twins apart."

"At least their hair is a different color."

"Youngmin is red headed. Kwangmin is blond."

That really didn't help her because the twins had a bad habit of switching hair colors. She hadn't been with them long but she had known a set of twins back home that did the same thing. It was so annoying then and now.

Woo Bin led her into her office and made her sit down. He didn't bother her as she graded papers. She looked miserable as she sat there and stared at the white pages.

"Can I just die?" she asked suddenly.

"No, that would be pointless. We would have worked too hard just to watch you die. I'm pretty sure Jeongmin would follow you," he said.

"Then I better stay alive."

Woo Bin confiscated her computer and sent out a quick message to her afternoon classes, cancelling them. Baye wasn't going to stop him. She couldn't even stand so there was no point in having class.

An hour later, Woo Bin got up, left for his lecture, and was replaced with Ji Hoo. The doctor stared at her for a long time before she threw a stapler at him.

This went on for several hours with two more shift changes. All of F4 popped in and out of her office like they owned the place. Jun Pyo technically did but not the others.

By the end of the day, she was worn out and ready to go home. Hyunseong and Donghyun were waiting outside the office when she locked the door. They fell into step behind her and followed her towards the gate. She was going to head back to her room and pass out.

They were halfway home when they were jumped from behind. Baye went flying across the sidewalk as Hyunseong and Donghyun turned to face their attackers. There were six of them.

"It's the Darkling special forces," Hyunseong said as he put his back to her. "They actually called out he big guns for you. You should feel proud. Not many are special to bring them out."

She shook her head. "I don't feel special. I want to go home."

"We'll get you home. Stay behind us," Donghyun said.

Baye didn't know what to do as a six-on-two fight broke out. Donghyun and Hyunseong did their best to keep her blocked but when one grabbed them, another would sucker punch them. It wasn't going well for them, and without backup they weren't getting out of it.

Two of the guys jumped over the six men on the ground and came after her. Her mind raced. She didn't know what to do. The last time this has happened she had gotten hit by ice. If it happened again, she didn't know what she could do. Instinctively she put her hands up.

The earth roiled and the wind howled as they came together is green and white fire. The flames surged forward and danced up the hunters' pants legs before retracting and circling their owner. The men on fire dropped to the ground to put out their pants, but they were instantly replaced with two more.

A whirlwind picked up one as the earth collapsed and forced the other to sink into a hole. Jun Pyo and Yi Jeong entered the insanity with confident strides. Woo Bin yanked one off Donghyun as Kwangmin froze the other's feet. Baye looked over and saw Minwoo standing by the curb facing outwards. Just down the sidewalk, Youngmin and Ji Hoo were running towards them.

"Hey, Ravi, long time no see," Woo Bin remarked as he yanked the mask off one of the black clothed guys.

"I should have known you would show up," Ravi said as he stood on his own feet.

"Well of course. You're after my friend."

"Didn't you guys plagiarize your names?" Yi Jeong asked. "Weren't those the names of the guys from Vixx?"

"Shut up, potter," another said.

The ground holding him tightened. "Last time I checked you were sitting in a hole made by dirt. I could crush you, N."

"Don't." They all looked at Baye. Fire flowing around her, she looked ethereal. Those same colors were banded in her hair and along her skin. It was the most astounding thing. "Don't hurt them."

"But," Youngmin said.

"No. Don't hurt them." She turned that eerie gaze to the other six. "Get out of here."

There wasn't any arguing with her. Woo Bin and Yi Jeong released their captives and the six men scrambled away.

The other guys watched their friend since they couldn't chance stepping into her flames. Donghyun and Hyunseong slowly stood up with the help of Ji Hoo and Minwoo who also looked pale. Youngmin and Jun Pyo looked around the area to make sure no one would attack them now.

Donghyun chanced it. He took a few steps forward and reached out. The guys behind him tensed as thy prepared for him to be burned by the impressively hot fire. But Baye pulled them at the last second. Donghyun waited as the flames eased to nonexistence before he reached forward and took her hands.

"Donghyun," she said as the color faded from her hair but remained on her skin.

The man smiled. "It's all right. Let go."

The second the words left his mouth, she passed out from exhaustion. Donghyun caught her and cradled her until Ji Hoo could get to her.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Like usual, when it rains it pours. The internet went out this morning. Hopefully by the time I post this it will be back on. If not, I have put it up at work. (That sounds bad I know but I know you people want to read this.)

So with the internet down, I can't watch my drama. So I settled for D3: Mighty Ducks and then probably Stargate afterwards. Today will be kind of lazy until I clean the bathroom. Then there is the fact that I can watch the Facts of Life too.

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Jeongmin couldn't wait for the elevator to get to the Bunker floor. For the last three hours, he had wondered what was going on with his friends. After Kwangmin had texted him during class saying Baye looked like she was about to die, he had texted Woo Bin who he had known didn't have a class until later that afternoon. He hadn't been able to get out of his classes so he had been stuck with no way to know if she was okay.

He had had the hardest time paying attention in class because of it all. He had sent out many texts to find out what was going on, but nothing had come back. He had at least thought Donghyun would answer him, but even their leader hadn't been in contact with him.

Class had dragged on and on until he couldn't take it anymore. He had skipped his final class and had headed home. He hadn't wanted to seem like he was in a rush, but he had been. He had barely been able to keep from being followed even if he was. Luckily, his training and instincts kicked in and he double checked his surroundings before heading into the hotel.

He had taken the elevator but should have taken the stairs. The stupid metal box didn't move fast enough for him. He needed to get down now.

The doors finally opened and he slipped out as quickly as possible. He ran down the hallway, skirting people he didn't know. He wanted to find them as soon as possible. He needed to know what happened.

He found Ji Hoo and Woo Bin standing out in the hallway right in front of his room. He didn't even bother stopping as he shoved through the two of them and went in his room. Donghyun looked up as he entered.

The leader was bruised, a nice ring of blackness forming around his eye. His lip was busted as well. Hyunseong hadn't fared much better. There was a darkened spot on his collarbone and his shoulder was in a sling. The twins looked to be fine and Minwoo was leaning tiredly against the wall.

Jeongmin looked at the occupied bed and his skin prickled. Baye looked worn out as she lay limply against the pillow. The two dogs were piled up there with her, their heads at alternating ends. Her arms were folded against her stomach and he saw that her skin was banded silver and green. That was something he hadn't noticed ever.

"It's the first time it's happened," Donghyun said.

"What happened?" Jeongmin asked.

"We were jumped on the way home," Hyunseong replied. "Darkling Six followed us and jumped us from all sides. We couldn't leave Baye alone so we did our best to protect her, but it was six against two. There wasn't much we could do."

"In the end, Baye protected herself," Donghyun added. "While we were on the ground getting the crap knocked out of us, two of them broke away and went after her. I guess instincts took over but fire erupted from her. The ground shook and the wind blew as she somehow summoned the dormant power. I think earth fire and wind fire are the easiest ones for her to tap into."

Jeongmin picked up her hand and turned it over. The banding wound all the way around her arm. "How did this happen?"

"We're not sure. We think it's a side effect of using so much power," Ji Hoo said. "She complained of a headache before all of this. We're not sure if this is related or not. But if it is, she needs to tap in to water fire and wild fire soon, or it's just going to get worse."

"What do we do?" Youngmin asked.

"I'm not sure. We've never dealt with this before. Usually the ones we know or bring in are already in control of their power. We've never really had to train anyone in tapping into their power. There could be some severe consequences for everyone involved."

"Is there any way we can help without hurting anyone?" Donghyun asked.

"One of you can," Woo Bin said. The younger guys looked around, not really knowing what he meant. He sighed. "For us finding someone who can balance us is equally important. If doesn't have to be True Force, but it's easier if it is. That connection can balance the raging power that lives within you. Jeongmin is the only one who can do this. She won't hurt him."

"Isn't there something he can do other than…that?" Kwangmin asked.

Woo Bin sighed and shook his head. "I don't think there is. Baye is one of a kind and we don't know much about her, but it's been proven that this is the only way."

"You can ease the tension by getting married," Ji Hoo tossed out.

Jeongmin didn't look at the doctor. That would solve everything but it would also make his family lose their minds. He didn't want to be married yet, but if it solved everything, he just might do it. But Baye was another story. She would have some sort of say in the whole thing. She would tell him he was too young for her. She would turn him down in a heartbeat.

"You can't make him do anything like that!" Minwoo exclaimed.

"I wasn't going to make him do anything. It's just a suggestion. True Force was a huge thing that kept Jun Pyo with his wife. If Jeongmin has real feelings for her, he will want to take care of her in any way he can. If he can take care of this, then he can take care of anything for her," Ji Hoo said.

"Guys, I know you mean well, but I don't want you talking about this while she's unconscious," Jeongmin said as he adjusted the blanket around Baye.

Woo Bin nodded. "All right. We'll drop it for now, but you have to talk to her about it. It may be the only thing that saves her life in the long run."

The older two nodded on their way out. The twins and Minwoo disappeared on their heels, talking their ears off. Hyunseong and Donghyun moved to Jeongmin's bed and waited until the owner sat down in the desk chair at the end of the bed.

"What are you going to do?" Hyunseong asked.

The younger man shook his head. "I don't know. The idea isn't unappealing but I can't make it alone," he answered.

"You have to consider her as well. Baye will be in your care for the rest of her life. You know the way our people view the men and women," Donghyun advised. "Once a man claims true force and it's viewed as liable, the man is in charge of the woman's happiness. Since there are so few women who are recognized as powerhouses, it means that their husbands or significant others are the ones who have to help them."

"What would be the reasoning with Baye?" Hyunseong asked.

"Baye is stronger than any of us here. That's way too obvious. Any guy who is with her for the rest of her life will be in her shadow. I don't know how she will react when she learns all that, but I can tell you she will make her own decisions. She's not as stuck up as half the people here."

After a few minutes of getting the whole details of the fight that had happened, the older two left the room. Jeongmin sat at the desk and pondered over everything that he had just been told. He didn't know what he was going to do. He needed to bring it up to Baye but he didn't know how at the moment.

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Baye knew she was finally at her second home because of the bed and the furry things pressed against her. She barely remembered what had happened for her to end up back in the Bunker, but she knew that she was there.

She rubbed her eyes to get the sleep out of them and tried to open them, but they refused to open. She tried again but once again her body told her no.

"It's all right." She knew the voice but wasn't quite sure why it was so close to her ear.

She found out when she turned over. The body she rolled into wasn't furry like it was on her right. It was solid and warm. There was something on her shoulder that held her warmly.

She opened her eyes just a little to find out what was going on. Jeongmin was with her, and it made her wonder what had happened that he had decided to sleep with her. But at the moment she didn't really care. She closed her eyes again and snuggled into his shoulder.

Jeongmin felt Baye move but she didn't push him away. Instead she parted his knees with one of hers and wedged it in right there. He wrapped his ankles around hers and pulled her closer. She settled her head in his neck and breathed out harshly.

He hadn't known why he climbed in bed with her, but he had. It felt right to hold her in his arms. He wanted to keep her there, but he had to talk to her about it before he did anything more.

Even though his brain told him to wait, his body demanded him to do something. Even holding her in his arms sent his blood boiling. He shouldn't have claimed her so publicly. It made his mind and body long for her even more. He wanted to roll away but knew he would miss the contact.

Finally, when he thought he was going to lose his mind, Baye woke up. She rubbed her eyes and rolled on to her back. Their legs were still intertwined as they lay in the bed. Tim who was on her other side huffed agitatedly as Baye kicked him in the ribs.

"Why are you here with me?" she asked. She turned her head towards him and he could see the slow churn of a blue fire. It could only be the water fire that they had discussed earlier.

"I couldn't stand seeing you lying there. I had to do something. I couldn't sleep knowing you were here unresponsive. So after a fight with Roscoe, I wedged myself in here. Do you know how hard it is to sleep with two huge mammoths?" he wondered.

"I do. I've slept with both of them for six years."

Jeongmin wrapped his arm around her shoulder when she turned back into his shoulder. "Is there anything I missed while I was asleep?"

He sucked in a deep breath and pulled her closer. "Well, there was one that we need to discuss. It concerns both of us so I've had to wait until you woke up."

"Is it bad?"

"It's personal."

She didn't answer right away. He looked down to see her biting her lip. She wanted to know but didn't want to ask.

"You don't know what the meaning of True Force means do you?" he asked.

"Don't mock my knowledge. I may not know what I can do as a Wild Power, but I know what True Force is. My parents are a pair. The way they described it as two people who were brought together by something more than love and physicality," she said. "She told me that physicality is the first part of it but it's what follows after that really matters. My dad takes care of my mom even though he works in Australia. He even goes to Guardian meetings when he's home."

"So they truly love each other?"

She nodded. "Even after the issue with the rogue Guardian, they didn't split up. Mom didn't blame him for not being there when it happened and she still doesn't. I think my brother blames them more."

"Did they ever explain what it all meant? Like how they had to go about everything to become joined together?" He felt her nod into his shoulder again. "At least you knew more about it than I did."

"Why did you bring it up?" He didn't answer so she lifted her head. He looked down at her. "Oh."

"I didn't want to bring it up without you actually understanding what you were getting into."

"I may not know much about my Wild Power but I do know what it means to be bonded to someone."

Jeongmin sucked his lower lip into his mouth as he tried to figure out a way to bring it all up. He wanted to ask her but she didn't seem to be in the mood for that kind of relationship at the moment.

"Ask me what you want to," she said suddenly.

She gave him the door and he burst it wide open. In one swift move, he put her on her back and balanced right above her. She stared up at him calmly, eyes churning with something he couldn't quite read. He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. He was tentative at first, but he was bold and pressed a little further. After a few moments, he pulled slightly and nuzzled her nose with his.

"I want you," he whispered. Her eyes were blown wide and full of fire. "Say no and I will walk away."

Baye couldn't say anything as she stared at him. He was precocious but he was nice and honest. His temper was always random and she never knew what he was feeling. But he always kept the promises he had made her. He had taken care of her when it would have been easier just to toss her to the side. He had brought her dogs with her when he could have left them. He had been good.

She took his face in her hands and ran her thumbs over his cheeks. Once Dr. Chan told the rest of the school that she was actually seeing a student, her career was over. No one would hire a teacher who preyed on her students. If everything was done when she went back to school, she might as well have her personal life right.

She gripped his head right behind his ears and pulled him down, kissing him sweetly and passionately. Jeongmin sighed and sank down, blanketing her body with his.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: I have no internet at the time I am writing this. It will be a few days before I can get it posted. I hope you don't mind. It will give me extra time to write and review what I have written.

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Donghyun rubbed his bruised shoulder as he walked down the hallway. Ji Hoo had done his best to heal what he could, but Donghyun was stubborn. He didn't want the doctor exhaust himself after healing the worse things Hyunseong had done to him. It had taken most of the night to heal the younger man, and Ji Hoo had been tired when he had gotten to the blond headed man. Donghyun had taken healing for the scratches on his face and his bloody lip, but he had left the black eye and bruised shoulder.

He was more worried about the woman. Baye had literally passed out without preamble after she had used a vast amount of energy to ward off the Darkling Six. She had been unconscious for the last seventeen hours and that bothered everyone. They all wanted to know how to help her, but if she was still out of it, there wasn't much they could do.

After they had come back, he had heard the rumor mill that swelled about them. Everyone wondered why he wasn't fighting Jeongmin for a relationship with Baye. They all knew he (Donghyun) liked her, but why wouldn't he assert himself for the woman he really liked? They thought it would be awesome to see the two go at each other's throats over a woman. They had seen it when Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo had fought over Jun Pyo's now wife Geum Jan Di and they wanted to see it again.

But they never would. Donghyun did like Baye; he had ever since she had walked into their class and threatened anyone who made her life miserable. Jeongmin had been at the top of that list, and that had made the man even more curious. Then they had figured out she was the friend to Yi Jeong and had started hanging around her even more. By finding out everything that made her special, it had only bolstered the six's instincts to protect her.

Donghyun had backed away from ever claiming romantic feelings for the English professor when his friend did first. He wasn't the type to steal his friend's girl no matter how much he liked her. He was glad he had. Baye and Jeongmin fit each other perfectly. She would argue with him simply because she thought he was somewhat of a fool. Jeongmin would argue because it was just his personality. It was the reason the three English teachers before her had resigned. He was a snot when he had to be, but kind all the other times.

But Baye had surprised them all. She had grown close to Donghyun. Everyone else had already made the comments that she did it on her own volition. She obviously didn't realize Donghyun's feelings or she wouldn't have done it. But it had made Donghyun happy. He was able to help her with things that she couldn't go to the older guys for or she couldn't tell Jeongmin. She had confided in him so much more than he had ever thought she would. It made him happy that he hadn't just walked away from helping her.

He came to the blue door. He had never understood why they hadn't given Jeongmin a yellow door since he could control electricity. The twins' door was half red and half blue to signify their powers, his and Hyunseong's door was white, and Minwoo's was a dark grey. The youngest could control time and time had no color so they had gone with grey instead of black. Now that Baye was living with them, they were going to have to change the color scheme a little bit, but what color door would symbolize an Elemental Wild Fire?

He rapped the door with his knuckle lightly. His hands still throbbed from punching Ravi in the face the day before. He still couldn't believe that Darkling Six had been called to take out Baye. They were usually reserved for dire situations. Were the Darklings getting so paranoid that they had to take out the one who could the most damage? He had no doubt that Chan had been an informant. He was probably dead by now so they couldn't ask him what his motivation had been.

When there wasn't an answer, Donghyun tried the handle. It turned easily so he opened it. He was met with severe growls. Calling out to the animals through the wedge in the door, he made sure they were calm before he pushed it open even more.

As he stepped into the room, he noticed that Tim and Roscoe were occupying Jeongmin's bed which was closest to the door. They stared at him with angry eyes as he invaded the darkened room. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered with the animals. They barely tolerated anyone that wasn't Ji Hoo or Baye.

He looked at the other bed and felt color creep into his face. It had been nearly a month since Baye had been in their lives, and Jeongmin had moved face. He had never thought the young man could be so persuasive, but here he was with the evidence of it.

He started to back up, but Tim's growl had him stopping. Suddenly electricity crackled around the room, lighting it up with a bright intensity. Jeongmin had been woken by the dog's growls. Donghyun knew from experience that the animals growled in their sleep so Jeongmin must have brushed the first set off as a dream. But another set of growls that were so much more lethal would have woken anyone up. And Jeongmin wasn't used to waking up to growls that could mean death at any minute.

Donghyun stood very still as Jeongmin moved in the darkness. Any sudden movements could very easily be the end of his life. The younger man carefully slid out of the bed. His friend had to turn his head to at least give him some sort of modesty. He rearranged the covers and pulled on a pair of pants before he turned around. His eyes were sparking something awful as he looked at his friend.

"Hyung," he sighed as he realized who was in his room. "You should knock before you come in a room."

"I did," Donghyun argued. "You must have been sound asleep not to hear it. Usually you're wide awake when someone knocks."

"It's been stressful." Jeongmin didn't get an answer so he looked up. "Don't say anything. You're usually more tactful."

"Well, it's not every day we find anyone like this. Plus at least the twins didn't find you. It would be around the Bunker already."

"This is true. Let me put on a shirt and we'll go eat."

Donghyun waited as he put his clothes on then led the way out of the room. They didn't say much as they walked down the hallway. Donghyun didn't want to pry and Jeongmin was way too tired to even speak. He kept rubbing his eyes and yawning as he walked. He wasn't normally this tired.

But the scene that had greeted him as soon as he had opened the door played through Donghyun's head like a bad record on repeat. He hadn't seen much, but it had been enough to know what had transpired between the two the night before. The woman's bare shoulder would have been enough, but seeing Jeongmin completely naked had just sealed the situation. No matter what even if he wished it, Baye wouldn't ever be his.

They ventured into the commissary and everyone looked at them. Jeongmin was usually well-kept when he showed his face to anyone outside his room, but today was a completely different seen. Dressed in track pants, a loose v neck shirt and a pair of tennis shoes, he looked like he had just run a marathon. His normally stylized hair was messy and pushed away from his face. He looked like what Minwoo normally did when he rolled out of bed. Even the Guardian tattoo on his collarbone could be seen.

"How much do you know about any of this?" Jeongmin asked as they sat at their normal table.

"Not enough. My parents died before they could explain any of it. All I know is what I learned here," Donghyun answered. "Was there anything weird that you didn't know?"

"It was all weird. I never thought I would do that before marriage, but it was impossible to resist. The urge is still there. I didn't want to leave her. Even now my body is screaming for me to go back."

Donghyun had never seen his friend that messed up. Out of all of them Jeongmin was the most collected, far above him and Hyunseong. He was the middle kid out of them since there was a set of twins. He'd had middle child syndrome for a while since he had gone from being the youngest to being the middle kid. To see him actually torn over something meant he was growing in ways none of them had dreamed to grow yet.

"Are you going to ask her to marry you?" he asked as he ran his finger around the lip of his cup. "Your mom is going to demand it once she finds out this happened. She's going to demand Baye take responsibility for this even though technically that your job."

"Baye will be considered the head of the household. She will have a higher ranking in the Guardians," Jeongmin said, "but you're right. My mom will demand things be done right."

"You don't have to follow the customs if you don't want. It is your relationship after all."

"Yeah, but I don't want my mom to be irritated anymore. My sister is already being so picky. But most of all I don't want to give Baye a bad reputation. She doesn't deserve that due to something we couldn't control."

"You should be fully prepared to have her lose her job. It's frowned upon for a teacher to fraternize with a student, and you have done so much more than fraternize. If you weren't over the age of twenty, she could be jailed. Luckily for you, everything is legal."

There was a loud shrieking and lights overhead flashed. Everyone started rushing around to get to their immediate posts that had been stationed for an emergency like this. Jeongmin and Donghyun jumped up and headed where they were supposed to go until the former wheeled around and headed to his room.

They ran into Ji Hoo on the way. He seemed to have the same idea. He didn't look back as they continued their dead sprint.

Woo Bin fell into step with them. "We had a mole. Someone told them where we were and what room Baye lived in. They have a teleporter in their mix. It's a pretty good chance they caused a diversion so the teleporter can get in and get Baye."

Jeongmin put on a burst of speed and ran down the hallway. He didn't like the fact that they'd had a mole. It was way too dangerous. Anyone who had any common sense would look at Baye's aura. They would see him mixed there. It wouldn't be prominent at first, but it would be there. They would come after him next, and Baye would kill them all if they hurt him.

The door to their room was wide open. Jeongmin slid through the opening and found the dogs lying unconscious on the floor. He checked them and they weren't dead. That was fortunate, but Baye wasn't in the room. Both beds were overturned, the dresser was on its side and the closet pulled out. They had tried to make it look like someone had broken in, but they would have left Baye on the floor. She was gone.

"So it wasn't a ploy," Woo Bin said. "They really did take her."

"The only consolation we have is that they won't kill her," Ji Hoo said.

"That's not the only problem," Jeongmin added. They all looked at him. "We kind of started the True Force bonding."

The older two looked at each other as a very serious look passed over their faces. "Kind of? Did you or didn't you?" Woo Bin asked.

"We did."

"Now you tell us." Ji Hoo took off out of the room. Jeongmin felt like he had just lost his entire world, and at the moment there was nothing Donghyun could do.

(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Baye was cold and no matter what she did she couldn't get warm. She didn't feel like she had been at home or the Bunker. This was different. At home she had a warm bed. Here it was a cold hard floor.

Something sparked inside her, almost a like an instinct. Her body suddenly felt warm even though she didn't have on any clothes. She felt the wind blow, heard water crashing, and smelled the earth as if she were sitting on a patch of grass. But the most important thing was the fire she felt burning inside her.

The door to wherever she was opened. A cold draft came through the room and brought to her the smell of a different place. It was the scent of lemon and cake. They were in a bakery of some sort.

"Is she awake?" a young voice asked.

"I'm not sure. Cover her up. I can't stand seeing her naked like that," another said.

She heard them move around the room but other than cover her with a blanket, they didn't touch her. They did what they had to do then left the room. She was alone again.

Smartly, she got up and wrapped the blanket securely around her then went to the door. It was unlocked so she went out and looked around. She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that this wasn't where she was supposed to be. She was supposed to be at the Bunker. This wasn't the Bunker.

"You're awake." She turned at the voice, catching a glimpse of her hair as she turned. It was once again banded with color. She was certain her skin was as well.

The voice belonged to a severe looking blond headed man. He was a little taller than her and was about two times wider in the shoulders. He was wearing a loose collared black shirt that exposed his collar bones. He looked completely at ease to her.

But there was something in his eyes that said that something was off. He wasn't completely emotionless. He didn't want her here anymore than she wanted to be here, but he couldn't go against his group. He had made his choice.

"Come with me. We'll get you some clothes," he said.

"Let me go." Her voice didn't sound like her own.

"I can't do that just yet. Come with me. I don't want to see you like this."

"Hyung! We were told to…"

Baye didn't know who came up behind her, but fire erupted around her without her knowledge. The flames were four different colors and they formed a perfect circle around her. The closer the person came to her, the higher they rose.

"Back away, Hyuk," the blond headed guy said. "Those flames can melt any material known to man, including human bones."

"She's going to burn a hole into the floor."

"Back away!"

The emotion in the blond headed guy's voice caught Baye off guard and the flames fanned higher. Baye wasn't angry, but something inside was protecting her. She couldn't stop them even if she tried.

"If she burns the place down, they'll find us," Hyuk argued.

"Just let me go home," Baye said.

The blond stepped forward. Baye didn't back down. She didn't sense any danger from him, but sometimes that was deceiving. He stopped about a foot away from her. She watched him and he smiled before extending his hand to her. She instantly smelled burning flesh. He didn't show any pain, but she knew he had to feel it.

Without warning, she reached out and grabbed him. The flames died, but like it had happened before, the banding remained in her hair and on her skin.

"Please. I don't want to hurt you. Just let me go," she said as she watched blood drip steadily onto the polished floor.

A small smile crept across his face. He covered her hand with his good hand. "Come with me. We'll get you something to eat and some warm clothes."

Not wanting to argue with an injured man, she followed behind him. She wasn't sure how she was going to get out of this one.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: This only being able to update once a day is annoying! I can't wait until our internet comes back on. Then I can upload as much as I want and not be concerned how you guys feel only reading one chapter a day. It will so much easier than doing it at work. Plus I can work in the comfort of my home, meaning my bed.

Okay, but I guess you didn't think you'd see that random change. Baye kidnapped! Oh boy. Let's see what happens to the Wild Power. I have a vague idea what's going to happen but most of the time it changes on me and I'm left sitting here going "What was that? What did I just write?"

Here we go!

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Baye sat in the cafeteria of the Darkling hideout with the obvious leader and the youngest member of Darkling Six. She still didn't quite understand how she had gotten here, but at the moment the rumors she had been told about the ultimate group in the South Korea Darklings' ranks hadn't laid a hand on her. They hadn't been rude either. They had actually been very kind so she was a bit torn in who she should believe. But her instinct told her to hear them out.

The blond headed guy, whose name she found out was Leo, had found her some clothing just like he had said he would. One of their women had brought her some underthings so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable in someone else's clothes. Baye already felt uncomfortable but that little bit of support had done wonders. She had also been given a pair of leather boots that were very comfortable.

She cleaned the wounds on Leo's arm as they sat in the cafeteria. She was still surprised he had reached through the fire and had only come away with light burns. Well, light second degree burns. His skin was peeling away from the muscle slowly.

"You should have a healer in your ranks," she said out of the blue.

"We do, but she's away at the moment. Something came up with one of our other women's pregnancy," Hyuk answered. "Is it bad?"

"I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure this isn't supposed to happen." She looked up into Leo's eyes. "You should go to the hospital. They can do so much more than I can."

"If I go, you'll have to go with me. I'm positive the others are scouring the city looking for you. I will be caught before I can say anything to you," Leo answered. He was still monotone.

Baye frowned as she smeared antibiotic cream on a piece of gauze then put it on his burns, holding it in place with the white wrapping. "You should really have that looked at. And what do you mean talk to me? You kidnapped me just to talk to me."

Hyuk smiled like a buffoon. "How else were we supposed to talk to you? The Guardians keep you under guard at all times. It's hard to get to you."

"So you break into the Bunker?"

The kid waved his hand in front of his face. "I didn't break in. I just used what comes to me naturally."

"So you used mind control?"

Hyuk's mouth worked like a fish. The only sound that came out was an idiot sounding gargle. He didn't know what to say. He looked at Leo for help, but even the leader was startled.

Baye watched both of them. Obviously they hadn't expected her to know what they could do, but sitting across from them and burning with Wild Fire had given her insight that she normally wouldn't have had. She wasn't sure how it happened, but she figured it had to do with the banding that had refused to leave her skin. She had looked in a mirror and had seen that it even covered her right eye. She was going to have to figure out a way to get it to go away because she needed to go to work the next day.

"How much do you know about our lifestyles?" Leo asked. He took the safe route around the obvious questions floating between them.

"I grew up with a Guardian mother. I know just about everything, but the Wild Fire thing is a bit new." She pointed to her face and hair. "Is this the reason everyone is losing their minds?"

"You're a rare find. Wild Powers are rare but an Elemental Wild Fire is the rarest of them all."

She nodded, slightly distracted by the thoughts running through her head. "So what are you going to do now? Are you going to kill me for a power that isn't even matured?"

Hyuk frowned and rested his head on his fisted hands that were stacked on the table. "Why would we do that?"

"Because the records say that the other Wild Powers were killed for their powers. I just want to know what I should prepare myself for."

Leo leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Let me guess. The Guardians claim that we kill the Wild Powers for their power so we can take over the world."

She made a face as she shook her head. "Not in so many words, but pretty much."

"Have you ever thought that maybe they're mistaken? Do you even know the history of the Darklings and Guardians?"

"I may have grown up in this life, but I shied away from the history after I was attacked ten years ago."

"Is that what the mark on your shoulder means?" Hyuk asked. Leo punched him in the ribs. "What? We have the right to know."

Baye tilted her head. "What is the history?"

"Well," she turned around at a new voice. This one was held by a red headed man, "it started almost since the dawn of man. Maybe two hundred years after the first man was alive. They were given certain abilities from Mother Day and Father Night. The first person was a Wild Power and he was able to help create the earth. Or so we're told. Not many of us believe it."

"That's N," Hyuk explained as the new guy sat down. "He's second to Leo, although Leo allows N to make most of the decisions."

"As time progressed, a woman was introduced to the man and he was called the first Guardian. He was to guard all of creation," N continued.

"This sounds like the creation story I hear in church," Baye said. She accepted the food a woman brought to her just as her stomach rumbled.

"It's close, but it's just legend. We're not really sure where all of our powers come from. We just know that we're supposed to protect all of creation," Hyuk said. He reached over and pinched off a piece of fish.

Baye frowned at him. "Don't steal my food, kid. I will bite you."

Leo and N raised their eyebrows at the fire woman as N continued his story. "We're not really sure when it happened, but records say it was nearly five hundred years ago when the split happened and two factions were created. There was a Wild Fire woman that two men craved. They had been put through the ringer for this woman and she had finally made a decision. One guy didn't like the decision and killed his competition. He was outcast from his group and made to live a solitary lifestyle. The remaining two Wild Powers that were alive at the time were simultaneously killed and the guy was branded a Darkling because everyone thought he did it."

"Did he?" Baye asked as she stabbed Hyuk in the hand as he reached over to steal something else. The kid cried out.

"Well, he killed some people, but not the Wild Powers. He was never caught for those murders either."

Curiosity piqued, Baye leaned forward. "Who was it?"

Leo crossed his feet under the table. "His name was Jack the Ripper."

"No way! Jack the freaking Ripper was a Guardian?" She stopped what she was doing and did the math in her head. "Wait. Those murders were in 1888. That was almost one hundred thirty years ago. Your math is way off."

She tilted her head. "So nearly a hundred and thirty years ago was the split." She bit her lip. "Maybe there are some things in the archives that my dad can get for me."

"Your dad has access to the archives?" Hyuk asked.

"Yeah, although I don't know why. It doesn't make any sense to me since he is a regular human. But he can get me just about anything I need to know. That's how I know so much. But why would the Guardians change the history of their people? Wouldn't they want someone to know the full story?"

"Most people don't think like that. They take what has been said at face value. A Guardian killed another Guardian for the sake of a woman who dropped him as soon as she found out. He then went about killing women in London and was never caught. Anyone would latch on to the tale," N said.

"So the term Darkling came from the fact that he killed at night?"

Leo shook his head. "No, it came from the fact that the man controlled the darkness around him."

The pieces were starting to fall together. She just needed one extra piece to make it all crystal clear. Something about this story was very familiar.

"By any chance were the two men brothers?" The three men around the table looked at each other. So no one knew that side of the story. "They were, weren't they?"

N nodded. "They were twins born twelve hours apart. One was born during the day and the other at night. They were considered the epitome of Darkness and Light, because the older twin could control the light and the younger brother the darkness."

Baye wished she had her phone so she could write all of this down. It was the missing story she had yearned to know since she had first learned about the Guardians and Darklings. How could two different sets of people be the same yet completely different? When had it happened? Why had it happened? How could they stop it?

"Because Jack the Ripper could control the shadows, he was able to get away with murder. But wouldn't his darkness and his brothers light cancel each other out?" she asked.

"He used cheap tricks to kill his twin. Everyone called the act dark. It's one of the three main basics of the Darklings," N continued.

"What are the other two?"

Leo rolled up the sleeve on his good arm and showed her a filled in Guardian birthmark. "Sometimes we don't choose what we want to be. This black mark symbolizes a Darkling."

"How is that possible?"

"Leo accidently killed an innocent woman," Hyuk said sadly. "Since it wasn't in self-defense, his birthmark turned black. N and Ravi were attacked in high school by the same guy and they beat him so badly he almost died. Hongbin's and Ken's powers got so out of control they accidentally killed their pets. I beat my stepfather because he was hitting on my mother."

Baye soaked it all in. "So any acts of violence that results in serious injury or death causes the birthmarks to turn black, which is an instant offense against any Guardian code." Her face became stony instantly. She glared at Hyuk. "Did you kill my dogs? Because if you did, I will become a Darkling because I'm going to murder you."

"Wild Powers can't become Darklings," Leo said instantly. Baye looked at him. "We're not sure why, but we think it's because they add balance to our ever present war. It's nearly impossible to kill one. They hold so much power that anyone else will tire in a battle with them. Elemental Wild Fires are the rarest as well as the most powerful. The last Elemental Wild Power died of old age and natural causes."

Hyuk smiled and held his hands out to his sides. "So we can't kill you even if we tried."

She looked confused. "Then how did the other three die?"

N scratched the back of his neck. "They probably combusted due to lack of expulsion." She gave him the HUH look. "If a Wild Power doesn't use his or her power regularly, that tension builds up. It starts out as a headache then progresses to body aches. Then they start feeling rather warm on the inside until finally their heart gives out, or spontaneously combusts."

"Can you absorb someone's powers?"

Leo shook his head. "None of us here can, but there are some in other countries who can. If you're thinking that one of them did that to another Wild Power, I wouldn't doubt it, but a Wild Power's power is so strong that the absorption wouldn't hold. The person would die in a matter of days."

Baye stuck her tongue out and started playing with the hem of the loose shirt. This was a lot to take in and she wished she had someone to bounce ideas off of. At the moment she was struggling to even comprehend what was going on. She didn't know what she could do.

"Will I be able to go to work tomorrow? I've already missed a few days and I don't want to miss anymore," she said.

"We'll send someone with you," N said.

She pouted. "Come on. I always have people following me."

"We can't have you being influenced."

"Too late. I'll make a deal. I will stay here until I figure out a way to get everyone to talk. But you have to understand I'm already in the middle of True Force cycle."

That was a surprise to them, but Leo stood up. "I'll go with you. No one will ever know I'm there."

Baye watched him leave the cafeteria. Something was off about him. He seemed so completely different from the others. He was so quiet she wondered what he was thinking. She hoped he didn't stand in the way of the things she needed to do.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: This is a turning point in the story. It's also the decline. I still don't know how many more chapters there will be. Maybe there will be twenty, but as of right now it's a little over half way over. It may take a little longer to get them posted because of no internet and a little bit of writer's block, but maybe it will go away if I take some time to think about it. Thanks for bearing with me.

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Jeongmin watched as Baye walked onto the campus with Leo, a Darkling. He didn't know how the crap she had been taken from them but he wanted her back. They wanted her back but he wanted her more.

Baye was talking with Leo in earnest. He answered her and they could see her head spinning about whatever it was. She was intense about whatever it was. Leo answered her as seriously as he always did.

Baye didn't seem to be harmed. She was wearing severely baggy clothing on her small frame. One of her collarbones (the right one) was showing, exposing the grey ice scar. But that wasn't the only thing she had exposed. There was a red band running over her skin. He could see a faded mark on her face.

"She must have tapped into the Wild Fire."

Jeongmin turned around to find Jun Pyo standing behind him. "How do you know?"

"So far she's only used three: water, earth, and air. We've seen the corresponding bands, but the crimson ones are new. We think Wild Fire is used as a dormant power that only comes out when she's in danger. She must have felt that she was, but she doesn't look like she is," he said. "The results are out though."

"Why wouldn't they hurt her?"

"Maybe they need her? I don't know. She's yours. You ask her."

Jeongmin followed him as he headed down the stairs. ""She's not mine."

"Tell that to someone who doesn't bear a Guardian birthmark."

They turned a corner. Jeongmin wasn't finished with all of his questions. "Can't you kick him out? Is he even a student?"

Jun Pyo shook his head. "Nope. His father is a board member. Even though Leo is a Darkling, his father isn't, and the man doesn't ignore his son. Leo is a student but he's in the science department."

He stopped Jeongmin with a hand to his shoulder. "Don't think about attacking him. Your training won't do you any favors. He controls silence."

"So put him against Donghyun," the younger quipped. He was getting angrier and angrier the more he thought about it.

"Who do you think busted his lip?"

Jeongmin knew Donghyun was smart in a fight, but Leo had bested him? Not even Hyunseong, who was able to teleport, could do that. How much more power did Leo have? And was he a danger to Baye.

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Donghyun watched Leo as he tried to sneak into the class and tensed. His lip throbbed from the beating he had received at the man's hands. Any time that man showed up chaos ruled right after him. He had tried his best to steer clear of him, but now he was here shadowing Baye.

Baye walked in followed by Jeongmin, and it was all sorts of awkward. They looked at each other, obviously telling each other how they were doing. Baye's eyes shined at him and Jeongmin returned it with a nod. He wanted to touch her, but it wouldn't be appropriate in class. She wasn't hurt and that was good to know, but they needed her back.

She started her lecture on Thoreau, her New Zealand accent coming out thick. She was very animated, talking with her hands and body. She pulled everyone into class by reciting poem from memory. Her eyes took on a faraway look as she spoke with enough emotions that everyone felt it.

Beside him, Jeongmin's knee bounced. Donghyun couldn't decide whether or not he was upset or if something else was going on with the man. He had only acted like this when he was bored or getting ready to lash out. He had never had a steady girlfriend so he wasn't used to being involved like this.

He got his answer a few moments later when Jeongmin's hand shot up. Not only was Donghyun surprised, but so was Baye. She paused for a second to school her face. The man never raised his hand. He usually just shouted out what he wanted everyone else to hear.

"Is there any poem or story about a woman being abducted from or leaving her lover?" he asked.

Baye's eyes narrowed on him and Leo shifted in the far corner. Donghyun held his breath because this was about to get out of hand. These two had a tendency to nag each other, and with Leo in the corner made things worse. If he felt Jeongmin was going to attempt to hurt her, he wouldn't stop from hurting the man.

"In the _Odyssey_ by Homer, Penelope is tempted by many suitors to give up on Odysseus, king of Ithaca, even though she knew he was alive. She held on until the very end, and by doing so she was reunited with her husband," Baye explained.

Another hand shot up. "Didn't she test her husband when he returned because she didn't believe it was him?"

Baye nodded. "She did. Only her husband would know why their house was special. So she used that."

"It was a house. Why was it so special?" another girl asked.

The professor hit the wall behind her. "Odysseus was smart. It's how he beat the Trojans, Circe and Polyphemus. He used his wit, but he was a lover. He adored his wife and wanted to create the best possible place for her and their family in the palace. So he built a bed frame out of a living olive tree that grew in the courtyard."

She smiled when the girls sighed. "Yes, it's very romantic, but it wasn't without its hardships. Odysseus was away from Penelope for twenty years, and everyone thought he was dead. So how did she wait for him?" She pointed to the guy whose hand was up. "Yes?"

"They were soulmates. She knew he would come back to her," Donghyun said.

She nodded. "Penelope and odysseus were fated to be together, and in the end, they were." She looked at her watch. "All right. We'll stop here for today. Don't forget your research papers are due in two weeks."

The class came to life as they shuffled to get out of the room. Baye stood by the table and watched them as they turned in the essays that were due at the end of the class. Usually she made them turn them in before she started lecture but today it was a little off.

Donghyun turned in his paper and met Baye's eyes. She held out a folded piece of paper and motioned for him to take it. He didn't know what was going on but she had never been emphatic for him to do anything. So he took it and put it in his pocket before Jeongmin could see it and wonder what more was going on.

Jeongmin smacked his paper on top of the stack and looked at Baye just as Leo walked up behind her. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

She shook her head with a smile. "No, I'm fine. They didn't hurt me at all."

The young man's eyes slid to the blond standing behind the professor. "Don't lay a hand on her."

Leo narrowed his eyes and electricity crackled around Jeongmin as they two stared at each other. Things could get heated in a moment. Baye stepped in between both of them and put a hand on either chest.

"Don't start that here. I don't have the patience to deal with electricity flying around a silent room. Donghyun, get him out of here. Jeongmin, go to class. We'll talk later," she said.

Donghyun didn't want to fight because slowly a green band started forming on the woman's exposed skin. If she lost her temper, the ground beneath them would shake and roil, and people would think it was an earthquake.

He grabbed Jeongmin by his shirt and pulled him out of the classroom. He was going to wait until he was alone in the library and could read the note she had given him. If it was horrible, he was going to filter it from his best friend. Jeongmin didn't need any more bad news right now.

Baye watched the two disappear out the door. Keeping everything quiet was going to be harder than she anticipated so she gave Donghyun the heads up before anyone else. It wasn't usually the way things went. She was supposed to tell F4 before she did anything, but she knew those guys a little too well. So she made the decision to tell Donghyun because she knew he would keep it to himself unless it was too dangerous.

"I have two more classes after this. Don't be surprised if the guys of Shinhwa show up. I have a feeling Jun Pyo already knows which means the other three will know soon as well," she said.

Leo nodded. "There's not much they can do. My father is on the school board. They have to come up with something more substantial than the fact that a Darkling is walking around with a Wild Power. And you agreed to stay with us, so it's a moot point anyway."

She looked over her shoulder at him. He was as stone faced as he had been since she had met him the other morning. She wasn't sure why he was like that other than a little bit of his past, but there was more to it. She knew there was but she hadn't figured out just yet.

The next class filtered in and she saw Minwoo and Kwangmin give her a sad look. They did the same thing Donghyun and Jeongmin did when they sat down. Their conversation was a little quieter and it continued on through her lecture. She didn't say too much about it because that would start a fight. So she went on with class.

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Donghyun sat in the library and stared at the white folded piece of paper before him. Baye wasn't the type of person to lie to him so he wondered what was going on. Why had she given him the letter instead of Jeongmin or someone older? F4 would have been a better fit than him. She should have trusted someone in a more powerful position than him.

Jeongmin luckily hadn't noticed that she had bypassed him. She would naturally turn to him since they were in the middle of the True Force, but she hadn't. She had bypassed him. Did she not trust him after everything they had shared? He was still taking care of her dogs. She had been taken right out from under his nose. And she hadn't trusted him with this.

Donghyun didn't even know what the letter said and he felt bad for it. He was Jeongmin's friend but at the moment he felt like a lowlife. He hadn't even told Jeongmin how he felt and now he was tortured once again because a note could mean one of two things. She was leaving Jeongmin or something was going on that was separating herself from everyone for the moment.

He reached for it and retracted his hand twice before grabbing it and opening it. He read through it once, twice before it finally sank in. She had incorporated a lot of information in a tiny space. But the thing that stuck out the most to her was what she was going to do. She was going to stay with the Darklings until she could figure out what in the world was going on. No matter how dangerous he thought it was, he knew she wasn't going to listen to him.

He spun the paper over and over and over as he thought about what he should do. He needed to tell someone but Baye was going to do it anyway. Jeongmin was going to be upset, but nothing any of them said was going to change her mind.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed but it had to be an hour because suddenly Jeongmin slid into his normal seat across from him. Donghyun looked up at him and couldn't help the emotion that played across his face. He really wanted to tell him but wasn't sure if he should.

"I tried to go talk to Noona but she wouldn't even open her door. Dr. Hwang said she was in a meeting and couldn't be disturbed," Jeongmin groused. "I don't even know what the woman was thinking. What was Kang Leo thinking escorting her here? Does he know what we'll do to him if he hurts her?"

"I don't think he will hurt her," Donghyun said.

Jeongmin looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Did you see the way he sat in the far corner of the class and watched her? He wasn't defensive. There was no agitation on him until we approached Baye."

"So you're saying he just watched her and us? Why would he do that?"

"I'm not sure."

Donghyun hated to lie but he hated to use his power against his friend. He had altered his voice so Jeongmin wouldn't pick up on his apprehension to talk to him. But Jeongmin wasn't dumb and Donghyun noticed he was staring at the paper in in his hand.

"What is that?" he asked.

The blond headed man looked at the paper and sighed. He wasn't going to hide it. "Baye gave it to me before we left class."

Jeongmin's easy going expression turned concerned then angry instantly. "What did it say? I know you've read it so there's no point to lie to me."

Donghyun licked his lips. "Baye's going to stay with the Darklings."

An incredulous look took over his face. He looked at him but no words came out. "Why would she do that? Aren't we good enough for her?"

"We can't doubt her, Jeongmin. She's not one hundred percent use to us. If we did something to her, she would change her mind about being here." He looked up when his friend stood. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find her and ask what in the world is going on."

Donghyun got up to follow him. Jeongmin's temper was going to cause a scene. Baye's temper was going either cause a bigger one or ignite the grass and buildings on fire. Both of those things could make things a lot worse.

Jeongmin found Baye and Leo as they were leaving campus. They were in the front courtyard heading towards the gate when he grabbed Leo by the shoulder. Baye turned just as Leo smacked his hand away. The two men glared at each other as the woman stood between them. Donghyun slid up beside Baye and gave her a sad look.

"Get lost," Jeongmin ordered.

Leo's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the man. "I'm a student here as well. You can't kick me out."

"I mean get away from Baye."

The bright blond turned his head to look at the woman. Baye looked back at him. "She doesn't seem to mind my presence."

Baye took a breath as she rolled her head. "Don't start this here. Leo, let's go. Jeongmin, I'll call you later and explain it."

"No, you explain it now," he demanded. He turned to her and caught her gaze. "Why in the world are you going to stay with them? They're going to hurt you?"

"Don't spout crap that you don't understand. The only person who was hurt when I was with them was Leo, and that was because of me. So don't try to change my mind because it's not going anywhere and neither am I."

Jeongmin caught her wrist and spun her back around as she tried to walk away. "Do you know how it felt to walk into the room and find you missing and the dogs passed out? It was terrifying. I never thought they would get into the Bunker and take you."

Baye looked at Leo. "I'm going to kill Hyuk."

"You're on a first name basis with them."

"So are you! You knew exactly who they were and didn't say anything. You didn't give me any information. At least they haven't kept me in the dark."

"All of your things are in the Bunker. Whose clothes are you wearing?"

Leo looked smug. "Mine. Do you not like the way they sit on her."

Jeongmin looked up at the man. He was trying to start something. The twelve of them had been friends until the other six had become Darklings. Now they were at opposite ends of the spectrum and pulling Baye right in the middle. Jeongmin didn't want that. He didn't want her in the middle of everything.

But Leo was looking at her like she was a prime piece of meat. Leo was like Jeongmin. He really hadn't had a steady girlfriend and it showed. He was way too reserved to talk to women. He was even more mysterious than Jeongmin. The only people who knew his true feelings at any given time were the men involved here and his group of Darklings.

"Don't get any ideas, Leo. Baye isn't someone's toy and she isn't the kind of woman that cheats," he said.

"I'm not trying to get her to cheat, but if she decides to walk away from you, I will completely understand. I'll welcome her with open arms," Leo answered.

Baye leaned back and looked at Donghyun. "Am I confused or are the two of them fighting over me?"

Donghyun shook his head. "No, Noona, you're not confused. They are fighting over you and I'm as shocked as you are. Leo never fights over women. He just steps back and lets the other guy have the woman."

"So you think you have a shot?" they heard Jeongmin ask. They both looked at the two men.

"Don't act like a child, Jeongmin. I know exactly what's going on, but I also know that a True Force can be disrupted by another person," Leo said.

"Now hold up," Baye started, inserting herself in between them once again.

"You want to see what True Force can do?"

"Jeongmin, don't do it," Donghyun warned.

Jeongmin jerked Baye around. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. In front of everyone – teachers and students – he kissed her as deeply as he did the first time they started this whole bonding experience.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: We now have internet! You have no idea how happy that makes me. Now I can upload at home!

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Baye succumbed for a quick second before reality took over. They were in the courtyard in front of school officials and students. She was a teacher. Jeongmin was a student. That was a little bit on the taboo side since she was his teacher for a course.

His grip was so tight she was having a hard time breaking it. She couldn't stand the fact that there was a possibility she could burn him to get him to back away, but he would feel betrayed. His heart was in the right place but the timing was off.

She pushed at him but he didn't budge. So she did something her brother had taught her. She stepped forward and put pressure right on his toes. He yelped and bit her lip hard enough that it bled. But he didn't move.

That was until someone jerked him backwards. His teeth ripped at the soft flesh of her lip. She sucked it into her mouth and tried to ease it but there was nothing she could do. So she looked up to see who had stopped the entire scene.

Yi Jeong stood in front of her as Woo Bin held Jeongmin back. Both of their faces were heated and angry and if they weren't careful the earth would peel back and a geyser would burst forth. Jeongmin looked mutinous as he strained against Woo Bin's grip, but the hulking man wasn't letting him go.

The potter turned and looked at her face, turning it gently from side to side. He pulled out his handkerchief and pressed it to the severely cut lip. Baye pulled away from it with a hiss, but he followed her anyway.

"You're putting on an unneeded show," Woo Bin scolded. "At this rate, Baye is going to be fired. We told you to lay low and at the first sign of trouble, you show out."

"He's trying to steal her!" Jeongmin argued, his temper getting the best of him and causing electricity to flash around them.

"Did she even say she was the least bit interested in Leo?" Yi Jeong asked as he looked over his shoulder. "You're going to make a mess of someone else's life because you seem to think that she's interested in someone else. That just shows how immature you are in your relationship."

Woo Bin turned and looked over his shoulder. "Baye, do what you were going to do. We'll do as much damage control as possible, but don't hold your breath. Don't plan to come to class for the next few days. The board will want to talk about this. You can't be around when that happens."

Baye push Yi Jeong's hand away. "Well, now is as good a time as any to say that I won't be coming back to the Bunker for a while. I've got something I have to do."

Yi Jeong licked his lips and cast a look at Woo Bin. "Are you trying to get killed?"

She smiled at him, splitting her lip again. She let a small stream of blood slide down her chin. "I know what I'm doing. I've got some things I want to do and find out before I completely make my decision to do anything. That includes a mating bond."

Woo Bin sighed. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Her nod was solemn. He dropped his hand as the other went through his hair. He looked up at Leo. "Don't you dare hurt her, or I will rip your throat out."

Leo frowned. "I haven't yet. Why would I anyway?"

Baye cast one look at Jeongmin and turned away. Jeongmin watched as she walked away with Leo. The bright blond looked down at her mouth and she pulled away from him. She didn't even say anything to him as they disappeared out of sight.

He felt drained all of a sudden. His knees started to give way, but someone picked him up. He looked over his shoulder and saw Donghyun holding him up. He had never been prouder to have a friend like that.

"Get your butt to the Bunker and don't bother showing your face until we call for you," Woo Bin ordered.

Donghyun led him through the gate and in the direction of their current home.

(*(*(*(*(*((*

Baye sat in a stack of books in a warmer room than what she had been in the first time. She had been given a completely new wardrobe even though she had one at home. She had figured out that they were all Leo's clothes that he couldn't wear. They hung off her even though she had rolled the waist bands and sleeves up.

She had raided the Darkling stronghold library and had pulled everything she could find on the Guardians and the Darklings. She had read almost every book, committing the most important things to memory. She had learned names and dates and places, like there wasn't a person who was over the Guardians as a whole. There was a committee of sorts. The same went for the Darklings.

She read and ate for the most part. Hyuk popped in and out every few hours. He was a lively kid who was way too excited about being a senior in high school. Sometimes he dragged Hongbin with him. Hongbin was a year older than Hyuk, but they were close since they were the youngest.

If she ever ventured out of her room, she always ran into N and the other two members that she really hadn't met. Ken and Ravi were the same age and the middle men in the group. They were loud and boisterous when they were together, but alone they were calm. Both were in the music department with Minwoo and the twins, but none of them hung out or talked.

N and Leo were the leaders of the group. Leo was the official leader since he was the oldest by a few months but he allowed N to take over because he kind of scared the younger kids. They were the same age as Jeongmin, Hyunseong and Donghyun so they were all in the same grade even though they were in different department.

Leo came by every night and they discussed what she had read. He wasn't mean about anything. He was simply curious. He asked all sorts of questions that made her ask more questions and want more answers.

There was a knock on the door. She turned down the music and went to see who it was. Leo held a tray on the other side. She pulled the door open and went back to her spot on the floor. The tower of books didn't budge as she sank back down.

Leo set the tray on a rare blank spot on the floor and sat behind it. He passed her a bowl of rice then set the sides on the tray between them. He ate quietly as she read while she ate. She pulled her knees up and balanced the book on her lap as she dug into the rice. She was very studious when she had to be.

"Are you going to be fine not going in to work tomorrow?" he asked. It was the first time he had started any conversation with her other than "I'll bring you some clothes."

Baye looked up then took a piece of pickled plum from the plate on the right. She shoved it in her mouth as she thought. "I'll be fine. If they kick me out, it's whatever. I can always go home and do whatever I want there."

"Can it be that simple for you? You're going to be craving Jeongmin pretty soon. You read it yourself. When you start the True Force, you only have a certain amount of time between each…" he blushed as he looked for the word, "session before your body starts to beg and burn for him. You only have another week."

She dropped her knees and folded her legs under her. "Were you ever under a True Force?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you're so knowledgeable about it. You talk about it like it's happened to you before."

"It has." He set his bowl down and picked up the bread. "That woman that I accidentally killed four years ago was the woman I was in the middle of a True Force with. She didn't know what I was or what I could do, so when I burst her eardrums on accident and caused her heart to stop she looked so shocked."

"Who was she?"

Leo dropped his head. Baye realized it was hard for him to bring it up. "She was a teacher at my high school, much like you and Jeongmin. I pursued her until she couldn't resist me. Before we get too far into the story, we never slept together. I wanted to but she was more concerned about her job."

Baye started putting some of the pieces together. "Did you go to school at Shinhwa High School with the other six?"

He nodded. "All of us except Hyuk went to Shinhwa. He went to a music school instead. The others knew about my relationship with Ms. Lee."

Something tickled the back of her mind. "Was she related to anyone I know?"

Again a nod. "She was Donghyun's aunt. He was there when she was killed as well. We all used to hang out at a certain spot just outside of the school gates. Ms. Lee knew that and came to find us to rant at us about a paper we had refused to turn in. She was present when a Darkling attacked us. He had been on the news for statutory rape and had been on the run. He had wanted to add murder to his rap sheet."

"Did you kill him?"

This time he shook his head. "No. The twins burned and iced him as I made it nearly impossible for him to move. Ms. Lee wouldn't leave her students and she stepped right into the middle of it. That was the time I burst her eardrums. Before I could retract it, her heart stopped. They contributed it to an aneurysm, but we knew better."

The puzzle was almost complete. She just needed one more piece. "Is that when your mark turned black?"

He nodded again. "It was instantaneous. As soon as her life left her body, my birthmark changed. They blamed me for her death and I was outcast as soon as I stood up. Donghyun and I used to be best friends, but ever since that day, he hasn't talked to me."

"Maybe because you suddenly became the leader of the Darkling Six. If you had explained it to them, they wouldn't have ostracized you."

A small smile crept across his face. "They wouldn't listen to me. Pissing off the twins is never a good idea. Jeongmin and I never really talked. It was mostly me and Donghyun who talked. Every now and then Hyunseong would join in."

"Do you miss being with them?"

"Sometimes. I wish Hyuk and Hongbin had been able to hang out with them. Ravi, N, and Ken had the fortune of knowing them, but by the time I was outcast they had already been drafted into F4. It's F4 who won't accept me."

"I beg to differ."

Leo looked up and saw a fiery challenge blazing in her eyes. She was so completely different than the other women in the Darklings. She could actually get something done when the others couldn't. No one would be able to turn down an Elemental Wild Fire who would technically be in charge of all of them. Wild Powers had been created to rule the other Guardians, which was why there were only four born every five hundred years.

"Baye, is there anything you think you can do?" he asked.

"I have the ear to the head of Shinhwa, but I need the truth to take it to them. If I don't have everything in order, I'll get shot down and that will make me mad," she said.

He understood. "If you lose your temper, you could burn the entire place down."

"Then I'd be killing my friends. Wild Powers may not be able to become a Darkling, but my birthmark will darken. In every essence I will be a Darkling. I've had my fair share of people who have tried to kill me. I bear the mark to prove it, so no matter what happens I won't kill anyone unless it's in self-defense. It's also why I didn't like hurting you."

Leo reached forward and pushed a red band from her face. "You're way too kind hearted."

Baye looked at him. He was so lonely. He had been for four years, and he was latching on to her like she was a lifeline. She closed her eyes and let him touch her. It didn't feel the same like when Jeongmin did it. His hands were full of love and compassion. Leo's were full of longing. Though he had made friends here, he missed the ones he had lost.

She gripped his hand and held it with both of hers. "Help me get the information and I will reunite you with Donghyun. I saw him in class today when he first saw you. He was shocked and nervous. Maybe there was something inside him that never let go of you either. I may be grasping for straws, but I like to believe the best in everyone. Call it a character flaw."

"You want to go back to them?"

She nodded. "No matter what happens to me, I want to see this through with Jeongmin. He's the first guy I have ever been serious about even though he's my junior by ten years. So don't try to break it up."

Leo shook his head. "I wasn't going to. I just said all of that to get under his skin."

She laughed and let him go, content to jump into her dinner. He looked at her for moment before he helped her polish it off.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: Writer's block is gone! Hopefully I'll finish this by tomorrow evening. Then I'll have to figure out a new story to write. Not sure where I want to go now. Maybe I plug Super Junior in a different story.

But about my day. I had an easy day. I still don't have a car so my sister dropped me off. We had an easy, easy day. I didn't do much. I did have a party in sixth period and had some wonderful sausage cream cheese rotel with doritoes. It was spicy and delicious and I want more. I'm still so happy that I have internet, even if my computer is a little bit of a butthead. It gave me the blue screen of death earlier so I wonder how long it will be before it dies on me again.

Also tomorrow I will be later in uploading because hopefully I will be finding my five heathen puppies new homes. They are three months old and it's time for them to go. They are sweethearts and I hope they go to new and good homes. So it will take a bit for the chapters to get up.

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"Do you know how stupid that was? You may have just ruined her life!"

Jeongmin flinched as the angry and harsh words slammed into him. He hadn't thought past making Leo jealous when he had kissed Baye. He had only been thinking of his jealousy and anger. He had completely ignored Baye and her feelings. In the process he had not only made her bleed, but he probably could have cost her the job she was so passionate about.

President Kang sat with her council members. Of course the council included F4 and a few others. Woo Bin and Yi Jeong were mad at him, Ji Hoo was speculative and Jun Pyo looked torn. He had been the one to open his mouth. But curiously it wasn't F4 that looked the most distraught.

Lee Tae Jung looked like he was about to throw up. Leo was his son and a Darkling while he was a Guardian. He was also the only school board member on the council. He was beginning to think that the kid's acting out was his fault. Unlike most Guardian parents, he fully supported his Darkling son.

Every so often he would glance at Jeongmin and cringe. Was he feeling bad for supporting his only son? Did he suddenly just want to cut ties with him altogether?

Jeongmin glanced at Donghyun. Other than Baye he was the one this affected he most. Donghyun had been Leo's best friend since kindergarten. They had lived next door to each other until Donghyun's parents had been killed. Leo had tested into Shinhwa immediately. His father had taken over the late Cha Dong Yo's - Donghyun's father- spot with a heavy heart. In response Tae Jung had treated Donghyun like another son.

When Cha Mi Young had transferred as a French teacher, Donghyun had warned everyone away from her. She was twelve years younger than her late brother. She was about Baye's age now and Leo had been drawn to her, much like Jeongmin to Baye. But unlike this relationship, Leo's and Mi Young's never left the ground.

Hyunseong and Jeongmin had joined the group during second year of high school. Leo, N, Ravi and Ken had already been close with Donghyun, and they were getting closer to the twins and Minwoo. That day Mi Young had sought them out at Old Man Yang's tteokbokki shop to rant about their missing French papers when a man attacked them. Naturally they had defended themselves, but Mi Young had wanted to help. She had stepped into Leo's silence wall.

Leo was easily the strongest out of them. His silence was deafening, meaning if he put enough pressure around it he could burst someone's ear drums and stop the heart. He had been doing that when Mi Young stepped in. Automatically he had jerked it back, but it had been too late. The woman's eardrums had ruptured and bled while her heat had stopped. Hyunseong had tried to revive her but she had been gone.

Everyone had turned on Leo and his friends that night. Everyone except Donghyun. The kid at the time hadn't said anything as he had held his aunt until he ambulance had come. To this day he had never bad mouthed Leo and the others. No one asked him about that day because they thought he would be bitter.

The man he was thinking about made eye contact. Even now here wasn't an ounce of pain in his eyes after seeing Leo. He looked more cautious Han anything. But he looked like he knew something.

"Mr. Lee, what has the board decided?" President Kang asked.

"We need a little more information. We have talked with Professor Lee. Now we wish to talk to the student," Mr. Lee croaked out.

President Kang looked at Jeongmin. "Can you do that without losing your temper?"

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

She looked at the other man. "You may proceed."

Mr. Lee nodded and looked at Jeongmin again. "You need to answer everything honestly. We'll know if you don't." He waited until the young man nodded. "Did you know Professor Lee before she started teaching at Shinhwa?"

Jeongmin shook his head. "No, sir. I met her the first day classes started back."

"Did you pursue her or she you?"

"I pursued her."

"Did you ever stay alone with her?"

"Yes, sir. It was after a Darkling came into the school. I was ordered to take her from the campus and lock down in her house. The front of the house was being watched so we climbed over the back fence. Her dogs almost killed me."

Everyone gathered chuckled at the tidbit. They ha all met Tim and Roscoe at some point since they'd been here. Even Mr. Lee looked amused. But that amusement soon died.

"It has come to my attention that you are considered a True Force couple. I hate to ask this since it's a personal matter, but have you had any sexual contact with Ms. Lee?" He continued.

Jeongmin's throat constricted tightly and his mouth dried up. At this moment he wishes he had kept his temper in check. He wished Minwoo had the ability to turn back time instead of just stopping it momentarily. He looked at Donghyun and the other man was just as terrified. He was only one of two that knew.

"Student Lee? Your answer please," Woo Bin prompted.

He took a deep breath. "Yes I have."

There was a mixture of reactions. The twins' mouths dropped, Minwoo coughed, Ji Hoo looked torn, and Woo Bin looked angry. Jun Pyo looked thoughtful amongst the council members. While Donghyun was the only younger member who knew, Jun Pyo was the only F4 member who did. It was probably due to the fact that he was a bonded man as well.

Jeongmin knew the possibilities as he stared straight ahead. As a Guardian, they couldn't punish him and wouldn't punish Baye. She was too valuable. But they could fire her. Her reputation would already be in the toilet because of him. How could she retain it?

"There is one possible way to fix this," Ji Hoo said. Every head turned to him. "We've already told the rest of the board they were engaged by their parents and this was their first meeting."

This time Jeongmin's mouth fell open. "Why would you do that?" he asked.

The doctor's eyes narrowed. "We did it because you're the reason her reputation has been called into question."

"You want me to marry her?"

"You should. This is your mess."

"It's not just his mess. It's ours. I was an active participant."

Jeongmin turned around as Baye, Leo and Hongbin and the two dogs split the sea of people. Still wearing loose clothing, she had tossed her colorful hair into a braid and was sporting a pair of thick framed glasses.

Her hand hit his back as she stepped up beside him. Roscoe pressed his big head to his hip and sighed.

President Kang was taken aback. "Baye, I said you shouldn't come."

"Why? This is as much my fault as it is his. I was afraid of what you would do to him if I didn't come," she said.

Mr. Lee leaned forward. "Ms. Lee, if you do this, we can fire you under the fraternization clause. It would ruin your career."

"What career? I was bullied into becoming a teacher when I was happy working in my mother's shop. I never even dreamed of anything that has happened to me."

She shoved her hands into her pockets. "But my career is the least of your worries and problems. You have a bigger threat on your hands."

"What is it?" Jun Pyo asked.

Baye inclined her head backward and Leo walked forward. Murmurs floated about his audacity and about how the two should be killed. No one was brave enough to say it out loud with Mr. Lee there.

"We've received word from the States. The Guardian group in New York was attacked today. Sixteen people were killed while hundreds were wounded," Leo explained. "It gives us reason to believe they, meaning the Darkling Council, is trying to mount a coup."

"South Korea has the second largest Guardian population. It makes perfect sense that we'd be next," Hongbin added.

Someone in the back scoffed. "Why should we believe two Darklings who attacked us and took our most prized possession?"

"I believe them," Baye said. The murmurs stopped altogether. "You haven't lived with the Darklings so you don't know. They are just regular people whose birthmarks were filled in due to a tragic circumstance. Instead of supporting them, you cut them off."

"They attacked us first!" someone else called.

"Do you even read? Do you know the history of this advanced people or are you so ignorant you believe everything your ancestors told you? We weren't born separated. We were born as a group of Guardians to protect the earth and normal humans. For thousands of years we lived in harmony while the rest of humankind went to war."

The more she spoke the more eloquent she was like she was reaching a bunch of twenty somethings instead of full grown adults with successful careers. But that was the strength behind a Wild Power. They could say things that would get others killed.

"You call yourselves Guardians. What are you guarding? The earth? Or yourselves?"

"Why should we listen to you?" another man asked. "You have thrown both sides into turmoil. Our peaceful existence is now riddled with scandal."

"Your peaceful existence was a lie. You stuck your head in the sand and refused to see the truth. Not all Darklings are bad and not all Guardians are good."

Baye grabbed Leo and shoved him in front of everyone. His head dropped instantly. "You have ripped everything from this man and those he calls friends. He made one mistake and you ostracized him. You pulled him from his friends and family and shoved him into a group of people to which you did the same thing."

She pulled Hongbin up next. He panicked, eyes going wide as he looked around. "He's a kid, and you make him live like he's a criminal."

"They killed people, Baye. It's different," President Kang said.

The woman whirled on her. "And what makes you so special? How many innocent insects did you kill while honing your power? Or better yet, how many families did you destroy while running Shinhwa? You think you're so high and mighty because your mark isn't filled in, but you're probably worse than them. You're so quick to condemn but forget your own sins."

"But they're members of the Darkling Six," Minwoo complained.

Baye looked at him then the twins, sadness written all over her face. "They got that name because of you, Minwoo. As soon as you found out that Hongbin and Hyuk had been taken from their families, you started the name. it instantly had fear written within it."

"Are you condoning their actions by kidnapping you?" Yi Jeong asked.

She smiled and held her arms out. "Do I look like I've been kidnapped? If anything I've gained knowledge and new friends." She turned to Hongbin and Leo and smiled.

"They've brainwashed her! Kill them now!"

F4 slid out of their seats as Jeongmin turned around. Donghyun and the other four slid into place as the dogs crouched. But all of that was negated as a wall of multicolored fire circled them.

Jeongmin looked back at Baye. Banding glittered off her hair and skin as the flames in her eyes shifted colors quickly. The earth shook, the air warmed, the water in the fountains shot up, and the fire danced. She wasn't playing.

"Do not touch them," she ordered. "They belong to me under the Wild Power Code. I choose them as my guards."

Jeongmin looked at Leo and a pang of jealousy hit him. Baye was making a huge decision without him. There wasn't much he could do though.

She took his hand, her body heat scorching him. But his body roared to life instantly and he pressed his shoulder to hers. Finally he could touch her without reprimands and repercussions.

"Where are you going to go?" President Kang asked.

"I have a house I can use. Anyone will be able to come and go as they wish as long as they come in peace."

President Kang looked at the remaining council members. They nodded instantly. She sighed. "I guess you may go, but stay by the phone. You must come when I call."

Leo kind of smirked. "Last time I checked, Wild Powers don't answer to any of us except their bonded."

She stopped them again when Jun Pyo moved with them. "You're not going."

"I'm going. We all are." He stared at her, daring her to say something about it. He was the only one who could challenge his mother so openly. She wasn't going to mess with him right now.

Baye led the way to the exit, Leo and Hongbin at her sides. F4 and the rest of their group followed her. No one stopped them as they walked through the group of people. They couldn't. Jeongmin's electricity spun around them, threatening anyone who came in too close.

It didn't take long for them to get to the surface and head out of the city. They didn't go too far because it was Baye and she was too lazy to walk that far. She took a freaking taxi to school every day when they only lived six blocks away.

The house was huge. It suited F4 well, but where did Baye get it? Last time they had checked her family wasn't rich. She could barely afford living overseas by herself. How could she afford this?

She kicked off her shoes and headed straight for the kitchen. N and Ravi were in the kitchen making enough food fit for an army. They didn't smile as she popped herself up on the island. She stuck her finger in N's pot of sauce and popped it into her mouth.

"It needs more parsley," she said as she reached for Ravi's garlic bread. "Perfect."

"How come you eat more than you cook?" Ravi asked.

"How come you nag more than you eat? Where's Hyuk?"

"I'm here!" The kid slipped down the banister and barely landed on his feet. He was still in his school uniform but no socks or slippers. "What do you need, Noona?"

Jeongmin tensed and Donghyun grabbed his arm to keep him from attacking the kid. "Set the table for a mountain of pasta and garlic bread. We need enough places for seventeen."

He was already moving. "Should I set the dining room table?"

"No, kid, set the kitchen." She tilted her head with a DUH look. "Go set the dining room table. It seats twenty."

"I'll help," Hongbin said. He scurried after his friend with glasses in each hand.

Baye looked at the older men, eyes raking over all of them with disdain. "Now listen here. Those two didn't have the luxury of being friends with you when they were in middle school. The rest of you," she took in the younger ten, "did. You were best friends, but the instant one of them had a mishap you dropped them. There is no such thing as Darkling or Guardian, but you made it as such. Now we're going to live in this house until things are situated. There will be no arguing unless it's with me." She looked at Jeongmin then.

"Donghyun," her tone of voice changed instantly, "your sister is safe in New York. But when we were getting the information, I realized something. Leo has been alone since your aunt died. He hasn't dated anyone or thought about doing so. He's hurting and he's lonely. They all are. They miss their friends."

Without a second thought, she turned on her heel and headed into the dining room. They watched her help the youngest boys set the table. It got loud really quickly.

"We haven't hurt her," Ravi said. "She treats us like we're equals. We're never guilty unless it's just been shoved right in our faces. We're extremely grateful for the way she treats us. It makes us feel like we belong somewhere."

"She never raises her voice at us unless we deserve it or we're playing a game," N added.

Leo nodded. "Where's Ken?"

"He's at work. He said he'd be home in time for dessert."

"What's for dessert?" Minwoo asked. Sweets always grabbed his attention.

"Baye made a cookie cake," Ravi said with a smile.

Jeongmin realized Baye had really taken these people to heart and had made them her friends. She wasn't just someone who they should protect. She was someone who could protect them. He just wanted to see what else she could do.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: I feel like this is getting closer and closer to the end and I don't know how I feel about it.

But before I let you go with this chapter, make sure you got check out GOT7's new video for "If You Do". I love it and I've only watched it once. The dance for this song may rank up there with SHINee's "Lucifer". I still haven't learned that one all the way through. But I don't know GOT7's "Just Right" dance pretty well, even if I can't do the jumps because of bad knees. Oh, and spam the fire out of Super Junior's "Magic" because Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Siwon are leaving for military service soon. Eunhyuk leaves on October 13, which is way too soon for my taste, and Donghae leaves right before his birthday this month. It makes me way too sad.

Okay. I think I ranted enough. But I love me some Super Junior and I'm going to miss seeing the anchovy's face and gummy smile. It kind of makes me want to cry. But I have you lovely people.

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Jeongmin couldn't believe it at first. He had had to do a double take, but there was no denying it. He couldn't deny it. That would just be stupid. He closed his eyes once more just to make sure he was dreaming and back in his room at the Bunker. But low and behold he wasn't. He was somewhere much different.

His beds at home and at the Bunker weren't this plush. He had lost himself in a sea of blankets and a stack of pillows the night before. He had almost fallen asleep in those two things but the most important thing wasn't the blankets and the pillows.

He rolled over and stared at his right side. Well, not at his right side but what was at his right side. For the last week he had been sleeping alone and wondering he how he had ever done it for the last twenty something years. Even Roscoe and Tim hadn't wanted to sleep with him, taking the vacant bed on the other side of the room.

But last night he hadn't slept alone. Actually he hadn't slept much period, but that was neither here nor there. He hadn't had to go to bed in cold sheets and wake up to a cold bed. He had gone to bed with the one thing that had come to mean the world to him in a short amount of time.

Baye's hand was tucked under her chin, blue knuckles shimmering in the dim light. The Wild Fire banding ran all over her body, and the more he had looked he had noticed that they actually made multicolored flames. She was a walking billboard for what she could do.

She looked peaceful and he wondered if she had slept like this since she had been away from him. Had it been hard for her to be away from them, from him? Could she really chance it making friends with six guys who had lived as outcasts for so long? What would she do if she really lost her job? Could she support herself? Would she move back home? Could she leave him?

The answer to the last question was obviously yes. She had left him to go to the Darklings when they had forcibly taken her from them. There was bound to be something else she would leave him for. It would never be another man, but it could be another job or another group of Guardians she would leave to help. If she saw her vision through, she was going to be gone for a very long time.

Maybe he should just end it while he had the chance. They could finish the True Force and live separate lives like her parents did. They were technically married but that didn't mean anything to Marissa and Soo Hyun. They had raised their daughter to the best of their abilities while living hundreds of miles from each other. A part of him didn't believe that they'd had a happy marriage.

How was he going to be able to finish school while this was going on? His mother was going to kill him as soon as she heard from the council and school board. She already had one child who was shirking marriage every chance she got and another who was so outspoken it was amazing he ever had a girlfriend. The only one who had done anything worthwhile to his mother had been his older brother who had gotten married and had a kid already.

He didn't know what he should do anymore. He thought becoming an English teacher would be enough for him, but now he was rethinking that course of action. It wasn't because that he would chase girls, but because Baye may not be able to do that anymore. It would almost be like rubbing it in her face.

She shifted to her side and let out a little sigh. He was immediately drawn to her and all of his previous thoughts went away. Even if he talked himself into it, he couldn't walk away from her. He had ruined her life and his in his attempt to get her. He had to make it right. If that meant marrying her he would do that. He was going to get an earful from his mother.

He laid his head on her chest and listened to her heartbeat. It was strong and steady, something he knew it would be. It thumped under his ear as she exhaled into his hair. He wasn't sure if she was going to wake up with him laying like this on her, but he was going to stay like that no matter how long it took her to wake up.

Unfortunately it didn't take long. There was a knock at the door before it opened. Leo came in and raised an eyebrow. Jeongmin bit back a curse at the man as he realized he came in with a tray for two. He could hear voices downstairs and down the hall. It seemed everyone but the two of them were awake. Did they always wake up this early?

Leo ignored him as he set the tray on the dresser to the side and went into the bathroom. He picked up the wet towels off the floor and grabbed Baye's discarded clothes on the floor. He thought about grabbing Jeongmin's for a split second put left them in the pile they had started. Jeongmin narrowed his eyes at him. That guy was very petty when he wanted to be. What had Jeongmin done to him? Oh yeah…

Curious he hopped up to see what waited for him. He smelled coffee, rice and pepper before he even opened the lids. What lay before him was a masterpiece that had Ravi written all over it. He remembered in high school that Ravi's cooking had attracted everyone including the teachers. Someone them said he should have gone to culinary school and opened his own restaurant.

Excited, he took a bite. The flavor exploded over his taste buds and made him crave more. He took a second then a third bite.

"You know most of the time Ravi lets me eat first."

Jeongmin jumped like a scared cat then turned. Baye scratched her head then dropped her hand in her lap. She watched him for a moment before motioning him over. Happily he took the tray and set it between them. She reached for the creamed coffee first, taking a sip and leaning back against the headboard.

"How long have you been up?" he asked.

"As soon as you rolled out of the bed. Please tell me you were at least wearing something when Leo came in," she said as she grabbed a bite of eggs.

"I was still in bed at that point." He stopped eating and looked at her. "Does he always come in here and bring you food and get your laundry?"

She nodded. "Laundry is his job. As for food, Ravi makes it and Leo brings it some mornings. I think the first night we were here he brought it to me."

"I don't like it."

Baye sighed and reached for his chopsticks. "You're going to have to get over this jealousy thing you have. It won't make it any easier on you."

"What if I went off and started hanging with another girl? What would you do?"

She looked at him and shook her head. "Nothing."

He blustered, blowing air forcefully between his teeth. "Nothing? You wouldn't care that I'm with another girl?"

She thought about it again then shook her head with a face. "No, not really. You can hang out with anyone you want."

"Are you just that cold?"

"No, but any girl would be afraid of F4."

Jeongmin opened his mouth to retort, but she was right. If he was caught hanging out with another girl, F4 would surround and ruin her before she even had a chance to explain anything. Baye was definitely under their protection, and fighting them was hard to do. Baye had excellent allies.

Baye poked him with a spoon. "Hurry up and eat. I want to show you something."

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Downstairs, Leo and Ken were helping Ravi with the dishes. Since they had all moved into the house a week ago, it was easier on them. They weren't getting the weird looks they had when they had lived at the Stronghold. As far as the others had been concerned, Baye was part of the Guardians and they had looked down on them for being friends with her.

As if they were still in the Stronghold, they had kept the same chores they had had. Ravi cooked and kept up with the kitchen, Hyuk and Hongbin were in charge of cleaning, Ken did the grocery shopping, Leo did the laundry and N kept up with the group's expenses. Even though they were living on their own, they still had a limited budget.

It was a normal day, except they were above ground and could see the sunlight. It didn't feel like they had something pressing down on their shoulders. It seemed like they were normal college and high school students. They were able to hang out without any issues coming up. They were just regular people.

Ravi finished putting the dishes away and slid the wet dish rag onto the drying rack as Leo brought in a wet load of laundry to hang on the line outside. Ravi smiled at him as he and Ken disappeared upstairs to go finish the heated video game they had started before breakfast.

Leo was struggling in untangling a sheet that had wadded up in the washer when something snagged the other end. He looked over to see what it was and came face to face with Donghyun. The other blond headed man didn't say anything as he untangled the sheet then tossed it over the drying rack.

They worked in silence for a little bit before Donghyun just stopped what he was doing and looked at Leo. The other man didn't exactly know what was going on, but he kind of understood.

Donghyun stared at his oldest friend for a long time. He and Leo had had a go of it since they had been kids. They had run around their neighborhood acting like heathens and getting into trouble. It hadn't taken long for their parents to realize that were going to be really close friends.

And they had been for nearly ten years. They hadn't been separated even by Donghyun's parents' deaths or his move to Shinhwa. Leo had followed him and his father had even let him live with them for a time. Neither one had figured that it would be a woman that separated them.

When Leo had asked his permission to see his aunt, Donghyun had been wary at first, but Leo was very shy and didn't open up to people often. For him to open up to a woman he barely knew meant he wasn't joking about it. So Donghyun had given him the okay. He hadn't expected his aunt to be a super hero personality and step into the way of a man who was obviously fighting people who weren't normal humans.

"Leo," he said as they hung up the last of the laundry. The slightly younger man turned to look at him. "I never did tell you that I didn't blame you for Mi Young's death. I guess everyone put words in my mouth before I could even ask you about it myself."

Leo sighed and sat on the stone wall that separated the laundry racks from the garden. "I never thought you did. I wouldn't have hurt her if she had just listened to us and stayed out of the way. She stepped right in the middle of it."

"I know. But I never knew it was Minwoo who had started the Darkling Six rumor. If I had, I wouldn't have let him get away with it."

"Did you even try to talk to me after that?"

Donghyun nodded. "I called a couple of times but your father said that you were out with your new friends and that you couldn't be disturbed. After being told that I decided it was better not to disturb you and get on with my life. I'm still not sure how I got swept up into F4."

"They paid for your school. It wasn't hard to do."

Leo let the silence between them lengthen for a bit before turning to him again. "Is Baye the same with you as she is with u?"

Donghyun thought about that. "You mean bossy and sometimes a little demanding? No. She's only like that with Jeongmin. Those two like to fight no matter what it's about. They could fight over what color the wall would be in their room." He stopped and looked at him. "You're not trying to steal her are you?"

The other man shook his head. "No, I just like to mess with Jeongmin. He hides just about everything he feels except his anger. It's fun to get on his nerves."

"Just be careful of his actual temper. I bet right now he's thinking that maybe he should walk away from all of this and leave Baye to live on her own. He won't want to hold her back, but he's also a little on the selfish side that once she shows something he thinks is cute, he won't let her go."

"Is he fickle?"

"No, he's just too stubborn to admit much of anything. He talks more with his body than he does his words."

"So how do you talk to him?"

"I use the twins. They're the most effective at talking to him when he's in a mood. Baye just beats him up, Hyunseong ignores him and Minwoo just laughs at him."

"You guys are so mean to each other."

Donghyun threw a thumb over his shoulder. "Have you heard the rough housing that comes from that game room? I think your crew beats each other up more than mine."

Leo smiled fondly at the thought of his group. "They're a bit nuts."

The older blond became sober after a moment. "Why don't we join our groups and protect Baye together? Jeongmin isn't going to leave her alone here with you, and F4 are going to hang around to make sure we don't kill each other. Let's do each other a favor and just become one team."

"It would make things easier on all of us." Leo looked up at him. "Let's do it."

They did their own handshake then grabbed the baskets and headed back in the house to make sure people weren't killing each other.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: There are two more chapters after this so the story is winding down. This is the only chapter of the night so bear with me.

Now today has been a lazy day since I haven't felt well. My mom and I have laid in bed and watched football all day long. We have wrestled with dogs and yelled at the TV. Unfortunately I didn't find homes for my five puppies but I will try again in two weeks. It was just too cold today and no one seemed to want one. I felt bad for my babies, but hopefully my dad won't get too mad at them for the next couple of weeks.

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Baye sat outside the Board of Directors' meeting chamber. After two weeks of paid suspension, they had finally called her back to give her the sentence they had decided. She really didn't care what happened to her. She was used to being judged on things she couldn't help. She could have helped Jeongmin but there was no point. It was what it was. She could live with not being a teacher.

She had found her calling by tapping into the Wild Power abilities she had been been with. She was going to work in getting the Guardians and Darklings to build the chasm that had formed over the centuries. She was really the only one who could do it. She hadn't been raised to think the Darklings were bad as a whole, even if she had been attacked.

Jeongmin passed by the window below. They weren't in the middle of the True Force anymore. They had fulfilled it and had plans to register their marriage without the ceremony after this semester. There wasn't anything anyone could do now on either side of the spectrum. They were considered the most powerful bonded couple ever. She didn't like the fact that everyone looked to her for results when Jeongmin was just as equally qualified if not more as her. But Wild Powers were always catered to.

As if knowing she was watching him, Jeongmin looked up and smiled. He waved then caught up to Hyunseong who was slightly ahead of him. She hoped they would go find the others and have lunch or something together.

Leo left his father's office and turned the hall she was patiently waiting in. He and the others had started repairing the damage that had been done to them over the years. Even though she wanted to take all he credit in that, she knew better. Donghyun had been a big part that by talking to Leo. They were acting like they had been friends for years.

He looked up and smiled as he walked by her. He wasn't the type to ignore someone when they had helped him.

At the end of the hallway, Donghyun rounded the corner and waited. He smiled at Baye and waved then waited for Leo to meet him. The bond between the two had been restored.

"Ms. Lee, please come in," the secretary said.

Baye stood and walked carefully into the council room. All nine board members sat in front of her at the long hickory table. Five men and four women made up the board and they were some of the most powerful people in any school in the country. Most of them owned other businesses or their spouses did. She should have been intimidated but she wasn't. She has more things to worry about.

They all stared at her and she stared back. She really didn't care if she lost her job. They couldn't arrest her. Jeongmin wasn't a minor. Right now it was a battle of ethics.

"Frankly I am surprised. We have never had a scandal like this," President Kang said. "We have never had a student and a professor go public before."

"It wasn't intentional but I take full responsibility as long as Lee Jeongmin's college career isn't messed with," she answered.

President Kang knew full well Baye would fight if she kicked the man out of school. And it wasn't a matter of money. It had everything to do with power. Power meant everything in this world. It didn't matter if they had the money. It was all about the connections and who could pull more weight. At the moment for at least three of them, it was Baye.

"We have proven that the relationship hasn't harmed or been beneficial to the student," Mr. Lee said.

"I don't know whether or not to be offended," Baye quipped.

Mr. Lee bit back a smile. He didn't know if he should laugh at her or the whole situation. They had just insulted her ability to be a good lover. "What I mean is you did not give the student a passing grade because you were in a relationship. You based his grades on his work and attendance in class."

"Lee Jeongmin was in class every time it was in session. I can't be certain what he reason was for being there, but his attendance was perfect."

Baye had to wait as silence fell over them. She hadn't changed any of the man's grades, and had graded him the same as the other students. He was one of the better students and that showed in his test results.

"Ms. Lee, we have agreed that you are not a hazard to this university and would like to extend our apologies," President Kang said. "We would also like for you to resume your courses effective this afternoon."

"Have you punished Jeongmin?" she asked.

"No, we have not. We felt it would be better not to disrupt him so he wouldn't disrupt us."

Baye held back her laugh. "Are you afraid of him?"

"Yes. He has a mouth on him. Now you better hurry. Your first class starts in ten minutes."

Bowing, the English teacher left the chambers and hurried out of the administration building. She couldn't help the excitement that bubbled up. She wasn't going to have any consequences and neither was Jeongmin. There wasn't anything they could do. Things would hopefully be on the up and up.

((*(*(*(*(*(*(

The class was curious as to who theirs teacher was going to be. For two weeks they had had a substitute until they could figure out what to do.

Everyone knew the day after it happened that Jeongmin was Professor Lee's lover. So many rumors had run around about how and when it had started. Jeongmin had been the one to put an end to them by being completely honest.

Now that the rumors had been cleared, they just wondered when their teacher was going to be back. They missed her random rabbit trails about different topics that had just popped into her mind. She had made it fun. Now their papers were due and many of them were in panic mode.

Jeongmin was so torn he couldn't sit still. He wanted to know what was going on in the meeting. Was Baye all right? Were they going to punish her? Was she going to her office to pack it up?

"All right, you bunch of heathens. Settle down."

The classroom exploded in emotion as Baye walked into the room and threw down her notebook. Everyone started talking at once. Jeongmin looked at Donghyun but the older guy had no answer for him. She had obviously not told anyone.

"Are they going to do anything to you, Professor Lee?" one girl asked.

"Are you leaving?" someone else asked.

Baye held her hands up and motioned for them to be quiet. "We have missed two weeks of class. I know my sub hasn't given you the lectures I wanted to give before your papers were due. Maybe later I'll answer you questions. But right now we need to discuss the English language in the works of Shakespeare."

No one even complained as she launched into her lecture. Even Jeongmin and Donghyun took notes when they usually didn't. It was just great to be in class again. By the time they left, they had four pages worth of notes with the promise of more on Monday.

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

After hours of lecture and grading back logged papers, Baye was ready to head home. Woo Bin was waiting on her down in the courtyard. He had found out from President Kang that Baye hadn't been charged with anything and had been able to stay at Shinhwa. He had made sure she wasn't going to leave the campus alone.

They had gotten word right before they had come that the Darkling Council had allowed their faithful to attack any Guardian who seemed to be an issue. Everyone knew that Baye was the only Wild Power left, and they would be gunning for her. No one wanted her to be attacked so they were going to start double duty on guarding her. She wasn't sure what she should do so for the moment she was going to listen to them.

She packed her bag and flipped off the lamp on her desk. She grabbed her keys and pulled the door to after flipping off the overhead light. It latched behind her and she headed for the courtyard.

It had felt great to get back in the classroom. She hadn't really missed it, but she hadn't wanted their grades to suffer because she had made a mistake. They would have to pay for it, and that wasn't fair. If they had fired her, she would have asked for a sub that would have followed her syllabus to a tee. It would be too difficult on them to change their course of study right in the middle.

She didn't know what she should do next. She was going to finish out the year and seriously reconsider her job. She really didn't want to do it, especially now since she knew what she had to do. She had to figure out a way to get everyone reunited. Leo and his crew had dropped the Darkling Six moniker. They were now just reformists as they tried to integrate back into the Guardians. They were doing well, but that didn't mean the Darkling Council wouldn't try to bring them back.

Who had named them the Darkling Council? Why did any of them need a council? She had looked back into the history and found that the Guardians had never asked the Wild Powers for help until it had been way too late. By that point, they had been attacked until their ranks had almost been wiped out. So how was she going to fix that?

Her plan was probably going to cause a lot of strife between everyone. Wild Powers were considered holy of sorts. No one wanted them to sully their hands, but in doing so they had made it easy for those who wanted back in to hate them. They made them targets and that made them easy to kill. But on the reverse side, the Guardians and the Darklings were just as easy to take out.

That was her plan. She was going to take drastic measures if she had to. If they attacked her, she was going to kill them. She couldn't change into a Darkling so she was safe, but there might be other repercussions. She was okay with that as long as they understood that she wasn't a target and neither were the ones with her.

She spotted Woo Bin across the courtyard. He was talking to Donghyun and Leo. They all seemed at ease with each other. Actually Woo Bin had never really had anything against Leo. He just didn't show it because of the flak everyone would give him. He had taken to them more than F3 had.

They spotted her and waved. She was excited to see them after actually having a full day of lectures.

Suddenly Leo took off at a dead sprint for her. Instinctively she turned just as a knife sliced through the air, narrowly missing her neck. She dropped her bag and spun out of the way. The other three were a good five hundred feet away and closing the distance but this guy was quick with the blade.

Donghyun and Leo were the only ones who could use their powers. Baye's and Woo Bin's were way too noticeable in a large group of people. The only problem was if they did it too far away they could easily hurt someone else. Baye was alone until they reached her.

And this guy was fast. He was slicing at her quickly. So quickly that he lost his balance. Baye thought she had hopped out of the way just in time, but she felt the bite of metal in the back of her knee. Collapsing, she hit the concrete hard and rolled to figure out where he was. She saw a streak of silver coming straight for her chest when she finally threw her hands up.

Just like last time, fire erupted from her and danced up the man's leg. He couldn't stop the severe burns as the flames crept up and up until they engulfed his whole body.

Baye scooted back and just stared. Unlike Donghyun, Woo Bin and Leo, she couldn't recall her attack. She hadn't been born to do that. She was a defensive setter with a deadly offense. There was nothing she could do.

Water gushed over the man just as he fell to the ground. Leo slid to a stop beside her and looked her over. Other than the blood pooling around her leg, she was fine, but she knew the man wasn't going to be fine. If he had survived, he wouldn't very much longer. Those flames were so hot they could melt any metal.

"You have to get up," Woo Bin said. Baye looked up at him. "Get up. You need to get checked out and we need to save this man. Leo, get her up."

For some reason she started to laugh. "Aragorn said that to Legolas after Gandalf sacrificed himself to protect the Fellowship from the Balrog of Morgoth."

Woo Bin frowned as he helped Donghyun pick the wounded man up. "What nonsense is she spouting?"

"It's from _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_ ," Leo said. "She's going into shock from losing too much blood."

"Why do they do this to me?"

"To mess with you," Donghyun quipped. "We have to get everyone out of here. She just got off of one charge. Murder is a completely different thing."

Baye let Leo escort her of campus. Something felt off about what was going on. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was but she knew it was completely wrong.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Note: So I'm going to split these last two chapters up when it comes to posting. I'm late today because I have been sick all weekend. Even yesterday it took me forever to post because I just didn't feel up to it. Today I've eaten more but most of it has been spent in bed with seven fur babies. Be surprised if I get the last chapter posted tonight.

So what do I do if I'm sick? I watch so many old movies I can possibly quote them. Today I watched the Facts of Life that my sister owns. It sucks because she only has four seasons. I need to see all nine!

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

"Why are you always late to everything important?" Hyunseong asked as Jeongmin walked in the house.

"Once again I had something I couldn't miss out on. I do have to make a little bit of money you know," the younger man replied. He headed up the stairs without bothering to take off his shoes. "How is she?"

"She's still in shock. Donghyun and Leo are making sure she eats and drinks enough while Ji Hoo hyung repairs her severed MCL and ACL."

"And the other man?"

"Woo Bin hyung and Yi Jeong hyung are watching him like a hawk. He hasn't woken up yet though. His burns were bad enough that some of his skin melted off his bones. He's going to have nerve damage and will be crippled the rest of his life."

Jeongmin stopped outside his bedroom door and looked at his friend. "What's the whole story?"

Hyunseong sighed and ran a hand through his blue frosted hair. "He attacked her in the middle of the courtyard as she was leaving campus. He cut her knee and she burned him. It was completely in self defense but it doesn't matter. She doesn't see it that way."

Jeongmin knew she wouldn't think of it as self defense. She wasn't like that. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but if she was going to help them it was going to be like this. She was going to have to gain a backbone.

He walked in without knocking because it was his room. Leo and Donghyun were arguing with Baye over a cup of tea. She didn't want it but they wanted her to drink it. Donghyun looked concerned but Leo looked mutinous. There was color in his cheeks as his temper rose. Luckily for them he had perfect harmony with his power.

"Stop agitating her," Ji Hoo ordered. "As it is she's going to have limited mobility in this leg. If I can't at least get he muscle tissue repaired, she's going to be confined to a wheelchair all of her life."

"That really doesn't matter," Baye said. She pushed at the cup Leo offered. "I've seen the way my mother gets around."

"Stop it," Jeongmin scolded. She looked at him. He pushed Donghyun out of the way and took his place on the bed. "Quit giving them trouble and do what they say. You don't have the luxury of being a butthead right now. We've got too much going on for you to be stubborn."

Baye leaned her head against him as Ji Hoo continued to work. She replied the scene over and over in her head. She kept seeing the man burning in multicolored fire. She smelled the burning of flesh and heard his screams of agony. She hadn't meant to do it. He had attacked her first.

Ji Hoo let out a curse and jerked his hand back. He blew on it briefly and shook it to her the sting out of it. "You know your fire hurts," he said.

She buried her face in Jeongmin's neck. "Sorry."

Ji Hoo sighed and folded his arms on the bed and rested his head on them. "Any of us would have done the same thing you did. Being attacked in that manner is scary and nerve wracking. You didn't do anything wrong and he isn't dead. But even if he did die, none of us would fault you for defending yourself."

"That's not the issue she's having," Jeongmin said. His arms tightened around her as she tried to disappear into him. "How could we follow her example of accepting the Darklings back into our fold if she kills one? Wouldn't we consider her to be no better than them?"

"No, we don't consider her like them. Those who accidentally killed people while training are completely different than those who kill for sport," Hyunseong said. "We know our mistake with Leo and his friends. We've fixing it slowly, but we can't accept murderers."

Joengmin looked down at Baye's multicolored hair an jostled her. "Did you hear that? None of us blame you. I bet that guy doesn't either. He was probably doing his job. Once he wakes up, we'll ask him what's going on."

Baye didn't move even though she heard everything they had said. Jeongmin's strong arms held her as Ji Hoo's gentle hand eased the pain. Even if she could speak she didn't know what to say to them. To Leo who was adamant about being healthy or to Donghyun who was just worried. To Hyunseong who was very cautious but very blunt and caring. She didn't have to say anything to Jeongmin because he just knew. He just knew and for some reason that made it all worse.

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Smoke filled the bedroom. The alarms were loud and obnoxious. Jeongmin woke up and covered his ears. He cursed as he saw the flames surrounding the bed and turned to Baye.

She wasn't sleeping peacefully like she had when he had first gotten here. He watched as her face contorted with agony. The more she dreamed, the higher the flames crept up. The poor carpet was being destroyed but the fire wasn't touching the bed.

The door flew open just as Jeongmin tried to wake the woman. Woo Bin did his best to douse the annoyance but it wasn't going to work until the person who controlled those flames was woken.

Baye heard Jeongmin but she couldn't pull herself out of the dream. There was nothing she could do. The throes of the dream were just too painful.

What if she had killed that man? What would have become of her if she had? Would she be able to look at herself in the mirror? Would she be able to look at Jeongmin or Leo, the two people she had harped to about acceptance? How would they be able to follow her even if she hurt that man? Why wouldn't her mark turn black? She'd hurt him and nothing had happened.

"I can't do that!"

"Just do it. It's the only way to stop this before she burns the house down."

A sharp pain cut across her face and her eyes snapped open. It took a minute for her to focus her vision, but her eyes landed on Jeongmin. He shook his head then pointed to the floor. She took a few moments to realize that their room was in flames. Slowly they died as she pulled them back.

Woo Bin doused the curtains and the coffee table before he sat back on his heels. He looked between the ashes and the woman, the ashes and the woman. He pointed at the coffee table.

"That was an Ethan Allen. Do you know how much that costs right out of the showroom?" he asked.

"I didn't buy it," she said. She motioned for Jeongmin with her hand and he pulled her up. She looked around the room and cringed. "It's a good thing my grandparents own this house."

Jeongmin laughed and rubbed his face. "Your grandparents own this house?" She nodded. "Well at least you can ask them to front the bill."

"We'll repair the damages as long as someone promises not to set the house ablaze again," Woo Bin said. He gave a pointed look at his friend. Baye held her hands up and shook her head. "Now what happened?"

Baye grappled for Jeongmin's hands, finding and holding them tightly. He squeezed back just as fiercely. It took a long time for her to recite the dream she'd had. She had tried to wake up from it but it had only made things harder. The more she tried to wake up, the more the dream became dangerous. The more dangerous the dream became, the more panicked she became. And they had already known what happened when she became panicked.

She looked at the floor and the curtains. Due to the dream, she had nearly burned the house down with everyone and the dogs inside. She would have survived but the others wouldn't have. She would have had to live a long time knowing she had killed all of her friends by one dream.

It would have been horrible if she had lost Jeongmin and her dogs. She had had Tim and Roscoe for years and it would be torture, but she had just met the man. She had gone through hell and high water to be with him after only knowing him for a few weeks. She was going to be heartbroken if something happened to him because of her. Then there was everyone else, but most importantly was Jeongmin and those two fur babies.

"Baye," Woo Bin said gently. She looked up at him before he sat down on the floor. "If you can't control your reactions, you're going to be dangerous. Your power is still too fresh for you to be too out of control."

"I know that, but that dream was horrible. I couldn't wake up," she defended.

"We know that, but just keep it in mind that you can easily put anyone to death with a flick of your hand."

Jeongmin zapped the older man with a current of electricity. "Stop it. She's already upset about the man down the hall. Speaking of which, how is he?"

"He's awake." They looked to the door and saw Ji Hoo standing there in his white doctor's coat. He rubbed his eyes, tiredness etched all over his face. "He's not answering any of my questions. Maybe you'll have better luck."

Jeongmin frowned. "You want me to talk to him? I can barely talk to her without yelling at her."

Ji Hoo shook his head. "No, not you. Baye. She's the one he attacked. She should be the one who makes him open up."

Woo Bin looked between the shocked woman and the doctor. "You think she should be the one to talk to him? You were the one who repaired her knee to the best of your ability and you're still not certain that she'll have full mobility. Now you want her to talk to the man who did this to her?"

"I know it's selfish and reaching, but Baye is the only one who can. You've seen what she did with Leo and his crew, and what she's doing with us. None of us dreamed of ever accepting or understanding the Darklings. Now look at us. We're living under the same roof as the Darkling Six. It's so far out of our realm no one would believe us."

"So you're calling her a lifesaver?" Jeongmin asked.

"I'm calling her a reformer. She was right. Wild Powers were meant to be the mediators between the Guardians and anyone who didn't understand their ways. Why don't we let her do what she does best and lose her temper?"

Baye frowned at him. "I don't always lose my temper, but when I do, I burn things."

"No," Jeongmin said as he drew her attention, "you don't burn things when you lose your temper. You burn things when you panic, not when you lose your temper. You circle yourself when you lose your temper."

She turned her head into his hand. "You think I should talk to him."

Woo Bin and Ji Hoo smiled at each other then looked back at the couple. Jeongmin shook his head. "No, I'm not telling you what you should do. You should do what your conscience tells you."

Baye looked at him for a long moment before she tossed the covers off her legs and carefully swung them off the bed. Her leg was wrapped in a brace that kept it straight so she reached for one of the crutches Ji Hoo had brought over from his clinic. She hated it but there wasn't much she could do. Ji Hoo was the resident doctor and everyone had to follow the doctor's orders.

The three men followed her down the hallway. One to make sure she didn't fall over, another because he was completely amused and curious, and the last one was going because he needed to support the woman. They were united in one aspect and that made the bond strong.

Leo was in the locked room when Ji Hoo opened the door. He didn't look shocked. In fact a small smile crept across his face as he vacated his seat and helped Baye sit down. She readjusted her leg until she was situated on the chair.

The man looked terrified. There were four men who were stronger than he was. If he wanted to attack the woman like he had been ordered, he was going to have a tough time getting to her even though she was sitting right there.

"What's your name?" Baye asked. She spun the crutch around a couple of times as she waited. The man just crossed his arms. "Oh, come on. Don't be like that. Here I'll start. I'm Baye. The guys are Woo Bin, Ji Hoo, Jeongmin and Leo."

"I know who they are. I know who you are," he said.

"Then tell me who you are. It will make this a lot easier." She watched him once again. "Oppa, how is he faring?"

"The burns weren't as bad as we thought. Once I scrubbed away the clothing that melted to his skin, I was able to heal him to first degree burns. Now he will be able to heal normally. He'll live," Ji Hoo answered.

"See?" she prompted. "You're going to live. Now tell me your name and I can tell you everything I know."

It took a minute for the man to believe her. She was looking at him earnestly. Jeongmin and Ji Hoo held back their laughter as Woo Bin and Leo watched the man closely. It would only take one moment for the man to wake up to Baye's personality. And it didn't take long.

"My name is Hwang Jung Jin. I was contacted by the Darkling Council to take out this woman who was causing an uprising in South Korea," he finally said. "Nowhere in the orders did it say she would be circled by the Guardian Council, six Guardians or the Darkling Six."

"Trust me. None of us thought that would happen," Jeongmin said. "But you had to know she was a Wild Power."

"Nope, not even that was in the orders. I just had a picture of her and where she worked."

"What is the Council planning?" Ji Hoo asked.

"There was talk for a long time about reuniting with the Guardians, but the leader of that party was killed and the new head of the Council decided that they were just out to kill us. We all believed it considering the history."

"They were lying to you," Baye said. Jung Jin looked at her. "Their only issue is keeping everyone separated. Much like this group of people, they were probably ignorant of the real reason there was a split. You've more than likely been told the Guardians tried to kill the first Darkling but things were completely misconstrued. A Guardian becomes a Darkling by killing or maiming someone severely, but there is a difference in accidental homicide and intentional homicide. Most don't know that and won't know it unless they ask."

Jung Jin looked between her and the guys. They weren't able to school their faces like she was, but it didn't matter. She was getting through to him. It would just take a little bit more time. Maybe in the next few minutes she would have him in the palm of her hand.

"What are they planning? Are they coming here where the South Korean section is?" she pushed.

"After they obliterate the Japanese section. When everyone heard there was a living Wild Power, they decided to figure out what he or she was talking about. They have slowly started to change their views on the Darklings and the Guardians."

"Ravi and I were talking to a friend of ours in Japan about what was going on here, and about how we had been accepted by the Wild Power as her Guards. They must have told their council," Leo said.

Woo Bin shook his head. "You've been accepted and you're still causing trouble."

Leo shrugged and turned his attention back to Baye just as she stood. The four men twitched to stop her but she didn't go too far. She sat on the bed beside Jung Jin and took his free hand.

"You can do what the Darkling Six did. You can choose your own path. You don't have to kill people that your Council orders you to. What did the Darkling Six mean to the Council?"

Jung Jin scratched his chin. "They were considered the poster children because they had been close to the guys in F4. They had been the friends with the younger kids and had been abandoned in a heartbeat when they had accidentally killed someone. The fact that their friends had dropped them had become the prime example in the Darkling ranks. It fueled the hatred between the two factions even more."

"So they used the Darkling Six as prime examples. They took their pain and used it to their advantage."

"How do we stop that?" Jeongmin asked. He had been one of the ones who had abandoned his friends. Now he felt horrible about it and wanted to figure something out. "Noona, how are you going to deal with this?"

Baye sucked her lip into her mouth. She had a plan but it was going to depend on everyone being together. She was going to do something drastic and it was going to make eyes widen and mouths drop.

"Oppa, get Jun Pyo to call the council. Jung Jin will call the Darkling Council. We'll have them meet in a neutral location," she said.

"What if they attack each other?" Woo Bin asked.

"That's when we separate them by fire."

The men looked at each other. Leo and his friends were going to be called traitors of the Darklings as Jun Pyo and F4 would be called traitors of the Guardians. Baye would take all of that and unite them in some way. But they didn't know which way yet.


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Note: This weekend has been extremely stressful. First I was sick and couldn't do what I usually do around the house. Then my white dog was attacked and he has stuck to my side like glue. I couldn't leave him for a second before he started whining. Now the puppies won't shut up. I'm ready to pull my hair out. I haven't been able to write on the final moments of this story and it ticks me off. My family seems to think I don't do anything, but I swept the floors today and did laundry. What more could they want? My liver?

Then to make it all worse, the computer I was using finally died. I had to ask my sister to borrow hers. Asking her for anything is like pulling teeth. So the final chapter may take a few days to get up. Hopefully I'll write it tomorrow and get it up tomorrow night. If it's not up tomorrow, it will definitely be up this weekend. I'm so sorry for this.

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Twelve black cars with tinted windows pulled up outside of Shinhwa University. The people inside opened the doors and stepped out. Looking around, they surveyed the ground. It was their first time in such a small place and they didn't want any surprises.

They were looking for their middle man. He had called them with news hat he had killed the person they had sent him after. They wanted to see the deceased body of the one woman who had caused all of the issues.

What they didn't understand was why they were meeting at the university. Was the body in the morgue? Could he only use this one place as a safe haven for what he had to do?

They surveyed the darkness once again right before more people drifted out from between the buildings.

Jun Pyo and Woo Bin led two groups from the buildings. They had done exactly what Baye had told them to do. They were to get the council and some of the others together and meet the Darkling council. If it came to blows, they were to pull their punches for as long as they could.

Jeongmin watched the group as he stood beside Donghyun. He felt awkward leaving Baye in Leo and N's hands. They were technically part of the Darkling council but Baye had claimed them as her own. Wild Powers outranked everyone. Baye's word was law now that she had stepped up.

The Darklings couldn't bother with Jeongmin. He was bound to a Wild Power. He was off limits. If they killed him, it would turn their world upside down. Baye was the last person they wanted at full power even if she was on crutches.

They stared at each other, daring the other side to cross the invisible line that had been drawn. It was dark and there weren't any students on the grounds, but it was still dangerous. And yet everyone had agreed to it.

No words or any witty banter was exchanged. Pure unadulterated hatred radiated from every pore of just about everyone there. One word, one motion would set off the time bomb that had been ticking for nearly a hundred thirty years. Mass chaos would ensue once one person decided that it was enough.

Jun Pyo glanced around, looking for the hiding spot Baye, Donghyun and Hyunseong had taken up residence. When thy had been planning this, Baye had sent two messages to both sides and had signed it Gandalf the White. Any one who was a bookie would know who Gandalf was. It was totally within Baye's realm. They put nothing past her when it came to books. When F4 had asked her what she had planned, she had refused to tell them. That they hated the most.

Someone did something and the Darklings charged in a fit of rage. The Guardians stood their ground and waited patiently to defend themselves. But they never got the chance as fire swept through the small space. Bright reds, greens, blues and silvers leapt waist high and stayed together. The Guardians didn't move but the Darklings looked unsettled. They looked around for the cause of the fire. A caster could only be so far away from the embodiment of their power before it weakened. But they didn't know Baye, who could contain her fire at a large distance and rarely tired.

"Why did you lure is here only to kill us?" the leader of the Darklings asked.

"We didn't lure you here," President Kang argued. "You lured is here. Why are you trying to kill us?"

"You started this first!"

The bickering started. Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo looked at each other. This was all part of the plan they hoped. Baye hadn't said much other than they were going to have to talk. Things weren't going to be situated unless they understood the history.

They yelled and argued and yelled some more. Woo Bin glanced back from the front of the screaming Guardians. Yi Jeong shrugged his shoulders. They were all at a loss. Baye hadn't said when she was going to cut in, but they hoped it was soon. Someone was bound to get adventurous and send whatever their power was over that wall of flames. They weren't ready for a defensive strategy although they should have been. They had been taught that they could be killed at any time.

Finally someone's orange fire leapt over the multicolored one. It landed in front of Woo Bin who casually side stepped it. He looked down at the singed concrete then back up again with a raised eyebrow. He knew better than to retaliate. He was under strict orders not to.

"Where is she?" someone yelled when they realized the Guardians weren't attacking.

"Who?" Jun Pyo asked. He played the part of a confused Guardian perfectly that Yi Jeong had to hold back his laughter. Only their fearless leader could do that and have no one second guess him. There wasn't much Jun Pyo understood, but he did understand how to play dumb. And right now it came in handy.

"The woman who has shaken everything up!"

"Oh, you mean the woman you tried to kill?" President Kang asked. The other side shuffled unhappily. "Yes, we know all about it."

"Where is she?" Ji Hoo muttered? "This is getting out of hand. If we're not careful, someone could die."

"Be patient," Jun Pyo said. "I trust her."

For him to say that took a lot. Jun Pyo didn't just trust anyone. He trusted F3 and the younger guys, but anyone else was out of luck. He didn't just trust people. They always seemed to Let him down.

Just like Ji Hoo said, things started to get out of hand. People started to Basie their powers. They stated flinging everything they had at each other. It was starting to turn into a huge nasty mess.

Lightning struck fifteen different places. Jeongmin had so much electricity winding around him if anyone touched him they would be burned. There was so much heat and wind that his hair was flying about his face. He looked truly terrifying. They had never seen him tap into his full potential, but here he was using everything he had.

"Donghyun. Hyunseong." His voice never rose but it rang out clearly.

There was a crack and one of the trees in the courtyard fell. It erupted in red flames, flames so hot that everyone scurried to get away from it.

It took a little bit for some of the smoke to clear. When it did, ten figures moved through it as if it didn't bother them.

Donghyun's and Leo's blond heads were the first things of color they saw. Hyunseong and Ravi were revealed next. N, Hongbin, Ken and Hyuk popped through next. Baye and the Jung Jin were the middle and the last to show their faces.

The Guardians were completely shocked. Baye looked so different than she had when they had seen her a few days ago. Her hair shimmered with sparkly color that matched the colorsBusy swirled in her eyes. The patterns on her skin changed every thirty seconds or so. But she was so different. Everywhere she stepped, flames fanned out in her wake.

"That's enough!" Like Jeongmin, her voice never rose. Donghyun's eyes swirled a grey color, telling them he was amplifying her.

"Who are you to tell us what to do?" someone asked on the Darkling side.

"She is Elemental Wild Fire," Jun Pyo said. "You have no choice but to listen to her."

"You you think we believe her?" Ho Joon, head of the Darkling council, asked.

The elements responded to no one. Dirt and mud flew up in the air. A mini tornado popped up in the courtyard. Water from the fountains swooshed together and spun in a tight circle. And to top it all off the flames turned bright red and orange and pulsed again. The members of F4 that embodied the four elements moved to their respective areas and added power to it.

"You doubt me? Do you doubt the laws that have been in place for generations? You know what you are supposed to do, yet you refuse to do it. We were not created to be at war with each other," Baye said.

"What do you know?"

"Everything because I took time to read and figure it out. We were sent here to protect humans. We don't enslave them and we don't think we are better than everyone else. We are be humble. Where did that habit go?"

"I refuse to hear your lies," Ho Joon said. "Darkling Six, kill her."

Leo shook his head. He answered for his entire team as he took Baye's arm and linked it with his. "We refuse. We are finally at peace with our mistakes. Our friends are back and we are happy. We won't destroy that again."

"We're not going back," Hyuk said.

"Fine. You'll just have to perish with her."

Just as the Darklings started to mobilize, the Guardians formed a solid unit around the small group. Jeongmin made his way through the crowd to his friends and stood behind them.

"Enough." Baye put one hand on Donghyun's shoulder and slipped the other from Leo's arm. "If you wish to kill me, do it like a man and wield the knife yourself."

She broke away from her group and walked with her shoulders held back. Jeongmin itched to follow her but he couldn't. She needed to walk on her own feet even if she couldn't feel the muscles in one leg. No one else seemed to notice, but they knew. And that made them antsy.

Ho Joon met her in the middle and had a staring contest. Baye wasn't giving up for the sake of them. They wouldn't deny her this but if something happened, they would take Ho Joon out.

It didn't take very long. Ho Joon automatically pulled out a knife because he knew his power wouldn't work against her. But it seemed his actions were slow. No matter where he stabbed, Baye wasn't there. She finally brought her knee up, her bad knee at that, and nailed him right in the diaphragm. She shoved him to the side and walked right up to the Darklings.

"I'm not here to pass judgement. I'm here to give you the truth and a new way of life.

There will no longer be a Darkling faction. We are all equal no matter the color of our birthmarks. If you have an issue, take it up with your elders or come to me. I will gladly talk with you. But you will not attack each other because of it. If I hear about it, you will be jailed," she commanded. She was the supreme authority now.

She turned and pointed to Leo and his friends. "Do not touch them. They are my guards. They are my friends."

"Never in our history did it say that brother should be against brother. You decided that. You decided that people who accidentally kill innocent creatures while harnessing their abilities are ultimately bad. Yes, the way the Darklings were formed was bad, but you didn't have to make it any worse. Now you have a shot at getting back the life that you lost. Just trust that what is going to happen now will be good for everyone. But if you can't follow the rules, you can't play with the rest of the children."

The fire died down and the other elements fell away. Slowly people started to mingle. The former Darklings walked up to Baye and talked to her. Some looked relieved and others were more reserved.

Donghyun was the first one to venture forward. He touched Baye's shoulder to gain her attention. Jeongmin came up next and the others followed. They watched the rest of the people mingle and start talking. Jeongmin took her hand and squeezed it tightly. He was so proud of her but he couldn't find the words to express it.

"You did an amazing job," Donghyun said. "This would have taken centuries. But you did it in a night."

"It wasn't easy. I was itching to get down here sooner but I had to wait," she replied as she kept an eye open for a bit longer. "Jun Pyo, you and F4 watch them."

Jun Pyo frowned. "Where are you going?"

Her knees buckled as the streaking faded from her hair. She fell backwards, right into Ravi's arms. He smiled down at her. Her grin was small and happy.

"Oh. You know. I'm going to sleep."

Before the words left her mouth, she lost consciousness. Ravi looked at Jeongmin and shrugged. Never had anything like this happened to him before but he knew better than to get excited. The woman was already taken and trying to pry her out of the man's hands would end up getting him killed.

Donghyun knew the tension was building again so he motioned Leo to take Baye. He was the only colored in birthmark Jeongmin wouldn't object to touching his bonded woman. Leo had already given up the task. So if they could avoid one more fight, he would do it in a heartbeat.


	21. Chapter 21

Author's Note: This is the final chapter. I can't believe it has taken me so long to write this. Stupid computers. That's all I have to say to that. By the time this gets uploaded, I will be so tired of computers that I may not write for a while. But feel free to leave me ideas in my inbox on PM. I will take on throwing any KPOP group into the Boys over Flowers world. Thanks for bearing with me. Now I will drink my chocolate milk as I work on this.

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Baye was comfortable. She was warm and felt safe. Where had that come from? The last thing she remembered was kneeing the crap out of Ho Joon and then watching as the Darklings and Guardians started to patch things up. Fire had been all around them and it had died as she had become peaceful. She had been happy.

So when had she become comfortable, warm and safe?

Cracking open one eye, she surveyed her surroundings. She knew this room. It was her room back at the house. And not just any house either. It was the house she shared with the former Darkling Six and the Guardians who also happened to be F4. Now wasn't that something? So what had happened between the groups talking and her getting to the house? There was only one person she could ask, but he was in the bed with her and sound asleep.

Jeongmin had had it rough these last few days as they had planned the course of the attack. He had watched as she had come up with the way she would confront the groups. They had to be together for it to work. Then he had watched her sign the letters with something so obvious it would take a stupid person not to understand it. Then she had left him out of the surprise party, opting to have him where he would be most useful. That one had cost two nights of fighting and one night of sleeping on the couch. She would bet he was still a little anal about the last bit.

Everyone in the house had been weary about the plan, but Baye had known it would work. She had faith in herself and the people she was living with. No one would let her get hurt. They would die before that would happen, especially since she had already lost most of the mobility in her right knee and now had to rely on crutches to get around. Stairs were going to suck.

But they were her friends. She had been willing to lose her life to protect them. She had even contemplated going dark just to see what would happen, but she had ultimately decided not to test what Leo had told her. They needed her as the strong not-so-silent type. Actually they needed her to argue with Jeongmin because they weren't having any luck.

Speaking of the man, he rolled over and buried his nose in her hair. "Why are you awake?"

She lifted her head and looked at the clock. "It's actually a little past ten."

"So? We spent all night making sure you didn't die. Now go back to sleep."

Happy to do so, Baye made a grand gesture of rolling on to her side and burrowing as close as she could to Jeongmin. She wedged her knee between his and hit his jaw with her chin. She heard him laugh as she wiggled to get as close as she could to him.

But that happiness and silence wouldn't last. Not a minute after they had gotten settled, there was a knock at the door. Jeongmin yelled they needed to have better timing, to which Leo promptly opened the door. Even though their paths had been set, Leo couldn't help but rib Jeongmin every chance he got. He was able to come and go as he pleased in Baye's room so he did it when he knew it irritated the younger man.

He leaned against the door nonchalantly. For a quiet man, he was really snarky. "I would but there's an irate woman downstairs demanding to meet the harlot who enraptured her youngest child and threw him into the throes of fornication."

Jeongmin groaned and buried his face in the pillow. "My mother's here isn't she?"

"The one and only Shin Hye Li. She said you have five minutes or she's coming up here. Shall I tell her you're completely naked?"

The younger man sat up quickly with a finger pointed at his friend. "Do it and I swear I'll tell your sisters that you swore that you would never get married."

Leo threw his hands up in surrender. "I'll give you seven minutes. Then I open my mouth."

Baye looked at Jeongmin as he scrambled from the bed. She buried her head in the sheets as his foot got tangled in the duvet and he went sprawling across the floor. He kicked until his foot was free then he ran into the closet.

"Is she that scary?" she asked as she finally got up and followed him.

"Worse. She threatened to have my sister institutionalized for not being married already," he answered as he threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Why don't you tell her the paperwork is filled out and just has to be processed?"

"Then she'll want a wedding ceremony."

"I draw the line there."

"Exactly. She's going to be irritated enough that you're partially crippled."

Baye tilted her head as he rushed out of the closet and hurried down the stairs. She stood on the landing and watched as he ran down the spiral staircase. She had never seen him like this.

She thought about going back to bed. She was bone tired and felt like a ton of bricks was weighing on her shoulders. But the thought of Jeongmin's mother ripping into him because he wasn't married had her making her way down the stairs.

A hand caught her under the arm and steadied her. She looked up into Donghyun's face and smiled. He smiled in return and continued helping her down the stairs. He was always there when she needed a helping hand.

When they walked into the living room, a woman barely taller than the couch was ranting and raving at Jeongmin. The young man sat with his head bowed like a good son would when he was being scolded. He didn't look up even when he knew she was there.

"And you don't even know her! And you sleep with her? You bond with her? Does that make any sense to you? To top it all off, she's older than you! She's nearly your brother's age!" his mother ranted.

Baye scratched her head as she hobbled into the room. "Actually I am older than your older son. Hello. I'm Lee Baye." She bowed as much as she could and said her name the way she would if she were introducing herself to her family.

Jeongmin couldn't stop his mother in time. The woman was a spitfire. She strode across the living room, stepped right in front of Baye, and brought her hand right across the woman's face. Luckily for them, Baye was very even tempered at the moment. She was too tired to react anyway.

But the others don't feel that way. They were well-rested and on their toes. Donghyun pulled Baye behind him as Leo diverted the woman to another corner of the room.

"Mom! You can't hit her," Jeongmin scolded as he walked over to her. He glanced back at Baye briefly before focusing on his mother again.

"You nearly got kicked out of school because of her! Why can't I hit her?!"

Jeongmin had to hold her back as she tried to get around him to Baye again. She wasn't playing anymore. She was really angry. "It was my idea to pursue the relationship. Not hers. She's not at fault here." He made a face when Baye perked up to argue. Their entire conversation was done by facial expressions that made Donghyun and Leo snort in laughter.

His mother wrestled out of his arms and smacked his shoulder. "Why would you do that?"

"If you can't see it, you shouldn't ask."

It took a minute but she finally turned to look at Baye. She swept her slowly, up and down twice over. Baye stared right back at her, not even demanding she change her attitude. Her was no point. They would fight about it anyway.

"What do you see in her?" she asked.

"What did you see in dad?" he retaliated.

She seemed to reconsider who she was talking to because she turned back to Baye. "What can you give him?"

Baye shook her head. "Nothing really. Except honesty, love, a good fight, and…" She glanced at Leo and Donghyun who had no idea. "And a child of his own."

It took a few moments. Actually it was more like two minutes before the look of shock disappeared. Donghyun recovered first. He looked at her then at Jeongmin then back at her. A slow smile spread across his face before he turned to Leo. The other blond was too shocked to answer.

But it was Jeongmin who was the most flabbergasted. He stared at Baye for the longest before his legs shakily carried him over to her. He gripped her face and searched it to make sure she wasn't lying. She stared levelly at him. So he lowered his head and kissed her sweetly.

"How long have you known?" he asked.

"Only a few days. Ji Hoo Oppa wanted to do a routine checkup after we had the discussion with the Darkling Council. He determined that my leg was bummed and that I was pregnant. But here's the catch." She waited until he tilted his head. She really shouldn't open her mouth but she had to be honest with him. "There are two babies."

This time it wasn't Jeongmin who opened his mouth. It was Donghyun. His hand dropped from his mouth as he slowly walked forward.

"You mean twins? You're having twins?" She nodded, and he turned to his friend. "Sir, I want to applaud you. Twins only happen 1 in 500 on the first try without in vitro."

"Actually, my mom's a twin. It runs in the family," she said. "But Youngmin and Kwangmin are going to have an issue with not being the only set of twins in the family."

"Forget the two of them," Jeongmin argued. "I'm going to have to deal with it. Did hyung tell you the time frame?"

She nodded. "It wasn't the first time. He thinks it was the second so about two months ago. Three at the most, because we were at the Bunker the first time. That was before I was taken by Hyuk. Then I stayed at their place for two weeks and we were here for two months before the actual encounter. So yeah. Two months ago."

Donghyun's hand shot out and he popped her in the back of the head. She yelped in pain as Jeongmin stared at him. "I could beat you senseless. You were pregnant when the man attacked you and when you stood up to the former Darkling Council. What would you have done if they had hurt you? What then huh?"

"Nothing happened! And I didn't know at the time. I haven't had any symptoms. Oppa says I have an iron stomach."

After the argument, Jeongmin's mother attacked Baye with questions about the ceremony. Baye put her foot down and said they weren't having a ceremony even though their marriage paperwork hadn't gone through yet. She wasn't budging on that. If people wanted to give them money like was customary, they could do so without the wedding.

While the two women argued, Jeongmin stood off to the side with Leo and Donghyun. He was going from a single college student to a married man with two kids on the way. He hadn't expected any of this when the semester had started. Now he had a wife to look after and help prepare for their children who would be here in seven short months.

"What am I going to do?" he muttered.

"Well, first you're going to buy two simple gold bands when your registration goes through. Then you're going to pick a room and decorate it for when the babies get here. Third, you're going to rub it in your brother's face that you're younger with an older wife and two kids," Donghyun said.

Jeongmin looked at his two friends. He had never thought of it like that. His brother had always rubbed it in his face that he was the youngest and would be the last to do anything. But now, Jeongmin had the upper hand. He had two babies coming instead of one.

"Oh, he's going to be so mad," he said. He strode across the room to put an end to the two women's bickering before sitting down with his mother and standing with his registered wife.

THE END


End file.
